Ah, my
Beloved, fill the cup that clears
Today of
past regrets and future Fears
- Omer Khayyam
It’s been tough for few weeks and I know many people have it
far worse. My family and I are trying to take it one day at a time. Sometimes
one hour at a time when even a day becomes too much to be planned about. But
you know…the bliss of morning air touching your face sometimes wipes off ghosts
of slain past, lost opportunities, uncertain future and all those moments held
tight in a swinging balance. You sense a warm rush spreading from the tips of
your fingers to your chest- a moment you can only describe as feeling free. Few
rituals unconsciously drive us to experience a moment like this over and over
again. For me, one such little whiles is sipping from my tea cup every morning.
This morning the sky looked overwhelmed with emotion, like
there was something folded inside it, something I could see a hundred times
over and never tired of it…Deep breaths…I held my cuppa in both of my hands,
felt the warmth perfectly, I thought of my father…
Baba would (and still does) the morning’s first cup on his own. Watching
my father go through the morning ritual of preparing tea was poetry by itself.
At 6:30 in the morning he put the water to boil, fill that boiling water with
tea leaves and turned the radio on. We
the two sisters along with my mother used to be half asleep, the rich aroma of
Darjeeling tea would fill our entire house. The sound of cup on the saucer, the
tinkling spoon swirled and mingled in the morning air. Baba would then sip it
in silence while reading the newspaper, alone, unfazed by anything in the world
it seemed. His small obsession in a cup, the first few minutes of a day
hydrated his mind and soul…
Picture Courtesy: My morning tea cup
I kept on holding the ceramic cup watching the rich blackish
red colour. I gazed outside my window. Baba has been right, the first cup in
the morning is always very special. It brings in its fresh brew the thought of
another experience with the blue sky, when I am not my work, I am not where I
live or what I own, I am not even my relationships. I am right here, at this
moment with few parts of my life have slipped beyond my reach. It tells me
that even if my To Do List is long and daunting today, I need to focus on the
invisible item at the top of the list: I need to live and the rest is optional.
Each morning I try to get my nose close enough to the rim of
the cup so that I can get a clear scent, I take a silent sip and allow it to
stay in my mouth for some time. It’s a pattern that slows me down and gives me
perspective for a whole new patience to hold on the things that goes missing
between the lips and the voice. I sit with my cup soundless and see all the
vicissitudes that life brings forth, its pleasures, sorrows, joys and miseries,
responsibilities, disillusionment and youthful enthusiasm.
Having my cuppa in early morning light is my way of
meditation that helps me in the easiest possible way to look beyond action and
realisation the slow movement that life follows only by observing with great
care… I sip in silence and words are born. And as Thomas Jefferson once said,
‘’ I steer my bark with Hope ahead and Fear astern.’’
