It has been raining continuously since almost a week.
Roma sighed as she got up to another overcast sky and started preparing her breakfast.
She has not slept properly last night. This was Ravi’s first out-of-town official tour, since their marriage 3 months back. It wasn’t that she was afraid of being alone; she had left home after her 12th itself, to join the Engineering college in a new city. Then job had taken her even further away from home. She loved being on her own though. She could go on for days without meeting anyone – working or reading or watching TV on her own.
Thankfully, even Ravi was a homely person, and preferred staying indoors than partying out like most of his friends. It was a gamble gone right, as theirs was an arranged marriage. She had still not adjusted entirely to this new life though.
Was she missing him?
As she was eating her omelette, the door-bell rang. It was the milkman.
“Bhaiya, I don’t want any milk today”, Roma said.
“Why?”
“What do you mean, why?”, Roma snapped, thinking about her breakfast going cold.
“Nothing bhabhiji, whenever bhaiya takes milk, he always says that you cannot start your day without tea!”
Roma stared at him. Yes, she loves tea! But…
“Okay, give me half a litre”, she relented.
As she was going towards the kitchen, her phone beeped. It was her colleague Radha, reminding of her of the impending 11 am online presentation. Roma quickly dropped a message that everything was in place, and she would join the meeting in time. Though she still had a few finishing touches to add to the slides, her thoughts were elsewhere.
She found a pan, added water, tea leaves, sugar and milk, and started searching for Ravi’s special ‘CHAI-MASALA’.
Since they day they had gotten married, Ravi had been the one who would make the morning tea. He had claimed that he made ‘the best Tea in the world’, and it was true! It was exactly how her mother made it – the comforting aroma, the rich masala taste. In fact, their mother used to put this masala in her and her sister’s Bournvita milk, saying that the masala would boost our immune system.
Having a cup of his tea instantly brightened her up, got her ready to face the day.
She could not find the masala. She thought of calling Ravi, but realized that he would not be up so early. The tea boiled, and she poured it out in a cup.
She went to the balcony, the place where she and Ravi had their tea every morning. She realized that it had become their morning ritual.
She took the first sip and almost spat it out!
Ugghhhh
It was very sweet and very bland at the same time!
As she was pouring it away in a flower pot, her phone rang.
It was Ravi.
“Good Morning Roma, I completely forgot to tell you that the Chai-Masala is in the Bournvita container in the store cupboard.”
“Oh”, she said, as a little laugh escaped her lips.
“Why are you laughing, Roma? Everything OK?”
“Yes, it is”, she smiled. “When are you coming back?”
“Our flight is in the afternoon, I should be at home by ten at night. Don’t prepare dinner for me though, it’s booked in the flight itself.”
“I can’t wait to have ‘the best Tea in the world’ “, Roma said shyly.
She could hear Ravi’s smile as he said goodbye.
Yes, She was missing him.
Image: Young couple photo created by lookstudio – http://www.freepik.com
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