Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Chayya bina jiya jaaye naa :(


Thats what people in Chennai call a cup of tea - chayya. Its one of the beverages I love and can have any quantity at any time. My love affair with tea began since I was very young under the tutelage of my father. Yes you read it correct - my father. My mom makes a tea which is close to in-consumable for me. Its bitter. She makes a real hard drink of the poor tea leaves :( While my dad savors the tasty version - you know the one with lots of milk, just right sugar, some cardamom and ginger for sure. That is what he asked me to make one day, since mom was not around. I happened to taste my own creation just for the heck of it (My mom rues the fact that she is such a hard core addict of tea. Its the petrol she needs at least thrice a day; earlier it used to be five times! She always wanted to keep her children out of this dreaded addiction). But that day, when I tasted that divinely aromatic drink - I fell in love with it. Till date, its one thing I never ever say no to. Though kudos to my mom, she so fervently wished that we should nt be tea addicts, that till date neither my sister nor I am addicted to tea.

Now, why on earth am I blabbering all this? Well, it is cos, this very thing I love- has been made a paid thingy in my office!!!!! Imagine no more free tea. We got to buy it! I would not mind spending 4 odd rupees and getting a good cuppa. But the tea that is being dished out is so lame, it barely fills a paper cup and the tea bags seem to have lost all aroma. I do reiterate that I am no addict to tea. In spite of it, tea drinking is like a ritual. An excuse to move from the desk, some time to relax and give those sore neck and legs some motion, and on cold rainy days like Chennai is having right now, it feels divine to sip that warm cup. But sadly, that cup is now where :(

When the email was first sent out that there would be no more free tea from SRK's birthday onward, the mango people thought "Oh! come on this won t be possible to implement. Anyways everyone will go to have tea outside office which will result in man hours wasted which would in turn force the non mango people to roll back the idea." There was a seething of a revolt, the jitne bhi tu kar le sitam hans hans ke sahenge hum types attitude. I felt as if I was part of a an andolan, an important satyagraha. There were some emails floated to garner support and the public forums were replete with messages with some employees becoming demi Gods with their innovative ideas. But then, nothing moved the bade logs.

Finally the day came, one cold rainy chill morning here. The day sans tea. Ideas were afloat again. Black tea, hot water, getting tea from homes in thermos flasks, going to the houses of folks staying near office and having tea (ready to pay them also if they were insistent) and many many more. But then black tea is not equal to tea. Hot water is OF Course not equal to tea. Getting tea from homes - thoda zyaada ho gaya. Going to folks staying near office - not that besharam :( So Day1 we decided to go out and have tea and check the turn around time. Day1 it was 35 minutes. Day 2 new shop - it was 55 minutes. Day 3 - It rained so hard, we had to buy the tea at office. But then how long can this continue? Slowly I see some satyagrahis succumbing and yes, in the long run I wonder how I can hold on. So though sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab humare dil main hai not much zor will power main hai :'(

PS. Did not have the patience to translate the Hindi text - apologies if it is majorly incomprehensible to many.

15 comments:

Nitin said...

hahaha ... first time i heard this (paid tea/coffee) is abt 10 months back .. i couldn't believe that companies can do this ...but that was during peak downturn .... but after some month they rollback the idea..
do u work for the Idiots Business Morons.... coz they started it from their pacific centre...

Anonymous said...

I totally agree with what Nitin has said.. I work for the company he had mentioned...and hate the system of paying for the tea/coffee. And they have mentioned that its for the benefit of the people working here?They are known in the market for less pay, i guess they want to make money from what we earn.Its the give and take policy afterall. We give you the money, We take it from you too :|

Satish N said...

So you are now working for a I-Tea company is it ?? ;) Paying for tea does not sound like a plan for me, check it out dude, this may well be a novel idea to make people leave on their own ;)

Jack said...

Amrita,

Now that my PC is behaving, I hope to be regular. Congratulations on Indica. It is a nice car, though I have not driven it but the NGO I am with has one which I have been travelling in. So how is aandolan for chai going on? If management has decided to charge for it then it is their responsibility to maintain quality too.

Take care

Salomie said...

Its a funny post, but the reality really sucks!!! I too need my morning & evening cup of tea otherwise I suffer headaches, so I guess that makes me an addict :(

LOL on all the dialogues, btw :D

The Furobiker said...

best way.. go out to drink tea.. waste time.. for a month types.. they will learn ..

Shallu Goyal said...

u reminded me of our bfast tea n weekend evening tea sessions...:)

Nitin said...

hey amrita read the link below

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/uk/UK-company-levies-tax-on-toilet-breaks/articleshow/5228269.cms

i guess u will be happy that u r company is still better...

One day i was just thinking that probably this will be the next step companies might be looking for ... and today i saw this article

Reflections said...

Sheesh....make u pay for Tea/Coffe....mean trick really;-(

I dont drink tea or coffe but my guests tell me I make it well....learnt it from my mom:-)).

Shilpa said...

I lovvvve Tea too.... cannot imagine paying for the "dip dip" chai... I love my tea all brewed and boiled.... totally empathize with you

WritingsForLife said...

My mom still liked chai better than coffee... but I can relate to it because I feel the same way towards Coffee... we are all caffeine addicted :-P

I'll try 2 be truthful said...

mango people and chayya people go hand in hand.
i like the sweet tea matlab with loads of sugar .
i hope u get your daily dose too, and satyagrahis get their wish too.

Renu said...

even I am a tea addict..this payment thing really sucks..may be give certain coupons in a month to every employee, so that umlimited thing is gone..but still you are getting it in a reasonable amount, outside we get it 10/ min. a, otherwise 20/ a cup:) so cheer up:)

Ashma said...

:( i dont like the machine made tea/coffee, so i have always been paying for it.. u will get used to it soon..

Chitra said...

Ohmygawd! Another tea fan...!! Yippeeeee !!