Tea Deliberation

I have grown very fond of my tea…Perhaps it’s because I haven’t had coffee for two weeks now, or perhaps it’s because it’s an EVENT in my very slow days here at Sreedhari, but no matter what the reason I do like my tea. I have had permission to have TWO cups from Dr. Seena, but Chanda, who knows how much I like it (and who delivers it to my little shelf twice a day) often will bring me a little bit more to top it up. Background information.

Yesterday morning I woke up so cold that I decided to head out to the kitchen and sit by the fire. They brought me a stool and sat me next to a wood-burning fire pit where I fed the fire as they all worked around me with their morning comings and goings; heating water for the baths of patients who had early treatments, starting breakfast for the patients (at 9am), and the cooking of rice for the staff. I kept on putting wood into the small opening, that was firing a huge kettle of water until I got warmed. As 7:30 am approached I got up to go to my room but Chanda motioned for me to sit down and delivered a pan with a LOT of tea in it (about 3 cups)…Oh blessed be…A warm fire and more than two cups of tea; how cozy is that? Just like home.

This morning, as I was sitting on my porch (a bit warmer), waiting for my 7:30 tea delivery, Chanda appeared, filled my two cups and LEFT the kettle with extra tea in it…no words, just filled my cups, left the kettle and walked away…I finished the pot and when she returned she acted surprised, with a smile on her face. Ah, deliberation at its finest.