What’s Chai Got To Do With It?

There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you --- Maya Angelou

The deliberation with myself continued for days. "It is not a food blog, will the word chai make it seem like one?" "Is this a motherhood blog since the word children is prominent in the name?" "Will readers assume I am an ego-tripper because of the word me?" "I want the blog to inspire others, does the name convey that?"

But I was already in love with the name, and there was a compelling reason behind that love. Each word is a representation of what I want to convey through the blog. The name defines the purpose. Allow me to break it down one by one.

Latte or liquid lifeline?

Chai is the quintessential Indian brew of water, milk, black tea, ginger, and spices. It fuels a nation of approximately 1.3 billion people, is the perfect accompaniment to spicy Indian noodles Maggi, and often drenched with so much sugar that it might be mistaken for a dessert drink. Crack open a packet of biscuit and dunk a browned-to-perfection malt goodness in it, and you have yourself a leisurely breakfast or afternoon snack.

The word chai is a Hindi word for tea, derived from the Chinese word for tea 'cha.' From China to Iran to India to the UK, tea is central to the identity of many nations, but the latte-style spices-infused chai, in particular, is very desi.

That very desi cuppa became my trusted companion as I made the transition to Chicago from New Delhi to start my married life. Ashu's traveling job, extreme loneliness caused by leaving family, friends, and a successful career behind, and the absence of friends in the big city, meant lots of chai to get me through the long and blistery cold days of Chicago.

Through over a decade of living in the USA without family; through gloomy days of Seattle where motherhood felt like scaling the Everest without ice axes and alpine harness; through the sorrow of losing family members and not being with them in their last moments; and through disappointing revelations about my health, chai and I had a camaraderie going.

There is another side of chai's eminence in my life. Apart from being a beverage of choice when in need of de-stressing and introspecting, chai is also my trusted travel companion. Yes. Along with my husband and two kids, chai is my fourth traveling mate. The tea purist in me takes her black tea wherever she goes. While chai-lovers in India and the world-across have similar ways of brewing their cup, using readily available black teas (commonly called CTC tea), I differ slightly on my brewing technique and the tea leaves that I use.

This tea obsession and particularity over how the tea is brewed, make me carry along a tea kit for all my travels, even India. No compromising on the flavor, quality, or the brewing technique (as taught to me by my mother), no matter where I am. And that's why my family travel and motherhood blog needed to have chai featured prominently.

Companion and culture

Now you ask, but can't you buy one from a Starbucks or make one from your hotel room's free beverage counter?

Starbucks' Chai Tea Latte ruffles by feathers with the redundancy in the name (call it chai or call it tea, please!) and overwhelming taste of spices. Whenever I have had to drink one, I couldn't help but admonish the recipe creator for forgetting to include black tea to this chai. And the hotel room's bush-league teabags sans color or flavor are best left stashed away right where they are.

I carefully mix the two varieties of full-bodied loose leaf teas delivered to me every two months in optimal amounts to create the perfect blend and store it in ultra airtight container. Being quick and nimble is mission-critical—whiffs of invigorating aroma should not escape in the process. If a trip is planned for the month, a measured amount of the black tea blend finds its way into my travel tea kit.

I will also be lying to you if I said the word chai had no cultural connotation. The presence of the word chai on my blog is my attempt to show that my deep-rooted Indian-ness will be part of me no matter what I do or where I go. In today's times, Chai has found a global calling but remains very much Indian. Similarly, chai is an integral part of my identity because I associate it tightly with my traditions, culture, and family bond. Sipping my chai has, oftentimes, been an experience akin to time-traveling -- sometimes taking me back to my years in India and others, day dreaming of what it would be like to go back. I might have left India behind more than a decade ago, but it's culture and memories I take with me wherever I go, just like my chai and children.

Lost and found

That brings me to the children part of the name. After having kids, it has been hard for me to think of myself as anything other than a mother. The word mama started taking precedence over Shikha once needs of my child/ren came before my own. There was a time when being a mother to a toddler and infant in the USA without having family in the same country felt like the hardest thing I have ever done. While the heart was content at being surrounded by the giggles and chatter of two beautiful little beings, the everyday hardship and physical workload were making me disillusioned about what I want for myself.

The journalist, explorer, risk-taker, fun-loving travel-enthusiast, things that had made me 'me' and gave me confidence, were lost. For six years after becoming a mother, I lived with a desire to do something creative and meaningful with the education, experience and skillsets I had. Not that motherhood didn't need me to be educated or skilled. But I wanted to do something tangible. Unfortunately, that desire led me nowhere.

However, when my children started growing older and could vocalize their feelings more, they showed an unmeasurable amount of trust and faith in me. The kind of trust I had lost in myself. I realized that their love and trust in me wouldn't diminish because I visualized doing something I passionately wanted to do. My two littles had not clipped my wings; they had become my wings.

With renewed confidence and reconnection with myself, I realized I don't need to lose myself in this journey of motherhood. I started freelancing, enrolled for a distance learning program, and set a target to start building this blog. Some disappointment came my way last year, which reset my timeline, but here I am writing my first blog post.

The word children in the blog's name represents how tiny human beings can inspire us to dream big, adventure more, and laugh harder. Their unconditional love and trust in us are the only reaffirmations we need to take that leap of faith into doing what we love.

More than a blog about children or motherhood, I want to talk about how kids can inspire each one of us to be the best version of ourselves. From being a pseudo seamstress to an imperfect baker to being the over-planner (and packer) for our next trip, I know I have my kids cheering me on.

Me and Beyond

And about me? Me is a mere representation of my views that have been shaped by people, places, and circumstances. Along the path of life come many people and experiences that leave a deep impact on how we think or what we believe in. Think about it. We become who we are, my being a little of something for someone else. A daughter, mother, wife, sister, writer, poet, employee, nature lover, and so much more. The me is a glimpse of each one of them. By sharing my views and experiences, I am bringing you closer to a person, place, or piece of my present or past.

I hope you will find fragments of your story in mine. I look forward to sharing something relatable, meaningful, and real with you.

Not perfect or dreamy. But real.