Good evening to all of you, dear friends! Yes, Indian Chai Stories is back - with a new writer, as you might have guessed. And no, we don't have a story today, but a love story. Please welcome Reema Das, who expresses her love for tea life in verse!
I dunk a chunk of biscuit
Into my lemon tea,
It doesn't let me
Leave my old die-hard habits.
It was raining heavily
Heaving, heady, the wet-earth smell
and the fresh aroma of tea leaves
That is blown towards me.
I look at the river,
A little far away from my wooden bungalow
Through the curtains of green trees
The whispering wind sometime drops the silvery leaves onto the ground
I realise that I'm lucky to watch all this
- and have a dream like life to lead,
Staying beside the Dibru-Saikhua santuary,
At this time of pandemic
And vigour my quarentined panic and painful mind!
Departing Winter
The slight chill wind tossed my hair
When I was walking through the pebbled path
Of the tiny north-eastern farm house.
The barking stray dogs, the smell of forest fire,
And the song of falling wild leaves under the deep blue sky
Bring a tinge of romance inside you
With a whiff of the departing winter.
The once bursting river, once devouring its surroundings,
Has now dried like the orange plantation.
All set to die, and ending its far and wide story.
As I stretch my legs after the long journey, at our tea estate bungalow
I get a few soft midnight knocks on our door as soft as the first flower blooms.
They say: it's the unrequited love of a British tea-planter and a tea- tribe girl!
The magic of their love still lingers
in the nooks and corners of this bungalow.
These spirited love birds must have faced adversity
Otherwise why would it surge every now and then,
That this poet could sense and feel it. . .
While brewing black tea
It took me back to Upper Assam,
A lingering short journey to Dibrugarh,
how the strong aroma of tea in Panitola
would penetrate and rejuvenate the whole of me, purifying the soul;
that a dip in the Ganga wouldn't do!
While Earl Grey tea steals my heart,
like seeing your lover's eye fixed on you,
and the smile that sets, never dies...
To flavour more, green tea tightens my lazy bones and the muscles -
my first cup in the mornings
Sometimes CTC, graced with milk
would bring the memory of my school,
over the cup of tea , diluted with my students half- revealed or sudden
outburst or mystery grin
Or the laughter that would snatch my prime attention.
Having our breakfast
on the green lawn at the tea estate,
with talking leaves, tweeting squirrels
and the green manicured garden in the background,
endorsed with Orthodox tea,
seemed to be a transition
from madness to a responsible lady,
wearing a lady-like smile
And nodding head languidly...
Oolong tea, O, it makes me drink sadness...
a farewell treat that may not let me look back...
way to my most peppered life.
Evening chai is something I still relish right here
at the Assam tea estate with opened meshed - windows,
through which I surf the world.
Kissing my cuppa everyday is like kissing my birth place virtually;
whose image I have painted in my eyes !
Meet the Writer:
Reema Das is an educationist and a poet. Currently she writes from a tea estate in Assam. Her debut book, Out of Shoes, is available on Amazon. She has contributed to leading newspapers of Assam, anthologies of national and international acclaim, and has been invited to literary conferences to present her work. She's had a short stint in freelancing.
Is this your first visit here? Welcome to Indian Chai Stories! Do you have a chai story of your own to share? Send it to me here, please : indianchaistories@gmail.com.
My name is Gowri Mohanakrishnan and I'm a tea planter's wife. I started this blog because one of the things that I wouldn't want us to lose in a fast changing world is the tea story - a story always told with great seriousness, no matter how funny - always true (always) - maybe a tall tale, maybe long, short, impossible, scary, funny or exciting but never dull. You will find yourself transported to another world!
Happy reading! Cheers to the spirit of Indian Tea! ADD THIS LINK TO YOUR FAVOURITES : https://teastorytellers.blogspot.com/
Is this your first visit here? Welcome to Indian Chai Stories! Do you have a chai story of your own to share? Send it to me here, please : indianchaistories@gmail.com.
My name is Gowri Mohanakrishnan and I'm a tea planter's wife. I started this blog because one of the things that I wouldn't want us to lose in a fast changing world is the tea story - a story always told with great seriousness, no matter how funny - always true (always) - maybe a tall tale, maybe long, short, impossible, scary, funny or exciting but never dull. You will find yourself transported to another world!
Happy reading! Cheers to the spirit of Indian Tea! ADD THIS LINK TO YOUR FAVOURITES : https://teastorytellers.blogspot.com/
3 comments:
Oh my goodness, this is so impressive, just magnificent work done by both of you Reema ma'am and blogger. My Good wishes are always with you. Sending good vibes and hope to read more blogs on Indian chai stories.
Lovely eloquent words that brings back so many memories to all of us 'char-wallahs' I am sure. Which tea estate were you referring too in your writing? I remember Rungagora TE being close to the boundary of the Dibru-Saikhowa Reserve across the Dibru River.
Winderful
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