Over A Cup Of Tea...

Tea... I don't know the exact origin of it, but most probably India and some neighboring countries.As per Wikipedia , Its consumption is second largest after water all over the world.

Those who know me, or even spend some time with me, know my love for It... rather good,quality Tea. I always say
'Its very difficult to spoil coffee , but equally easy to spoil Tea ' . You got to have an art , it's like playing a Violin... Not everyone's cup of Tea you see.

Excuse me for this Tea Saga,thats not the scope of this blog...just got a little carried away :) .

So,There are very few places here in Chennai where you get really good tea...what they call as Spl.Chaai (with ginger,ilaaichi) and I make a point to visit these cafe's run by mostly Mallu's at least once in a day (There are many other things for cost-cutting, not this!)

Yesterday,I woke up in the evening after a small nap and felt the thirst for some Spl. Tea (yes, Thirst can become very specific at times). So, hopped on the bike and went directly to the mallu-cafe. As it always happens...alone on a table,waiting for my cup.The only bad thing about Spl. Tea is,it takes some time to get ready...and when its ready,you don't need to be told , the scent just knocks on your nostrils(excuse me again... :)).
But, a little while later a middle aged man having all the typical middle aged characteristics came in and sat opposite to me on the table.

now...I have this (good/bad) habit of guessing abt ethnicity from a person's face, which i mostly keep it to myself.One thing about 'habits' is u don't realize when they come into action.Thus, I started examining him, wheatish complexion,old fashioned spectacles,thick mustache, and peculiar cheeks.My first impression was he was a telugu but then the saffron tilak on forehead confused me and i thought he can also be Maharashtrian.

I could have very well kept this confusion to myself, but when he ordered another cup of Spl.Coffee(yes, there's a Spl.Coffee too) I thought may be I can Clear my confusion with the gentleman himself. "Good Evening!Where are you from ?" certainly not the best way to start the conversation though,but he smiled and asked "what do You think ?"
me : Ummm...Telugu,most probably,but the saffron tilak confused me.
him: (smile widened) Right! (Coming Closer..) Certainly not from here right ?
(Now,i dont really know why he said that) I discarded the possibility and our conversation moved ahead.

He is DGM at a very reputed Finance Institute and keeps on moving all over India, I realized that he was not very happy with that and wanted to be with his family (very obvious!).he didn't like Chennai much... maybe on account of previous experiences.Slowly he started opening up as if he wanted someone to talk to , someone who doesn't know him and wont have any interaction with in future,many times we end up speaking very frankly to strangers about our feelings than our near ones, don't we? maybe, that was what the situation was with him.
He seemed to have had a bad day,had a fight with his boss over some small but irritating issue,but could not vent out his frustration "You have a long way to go.Remember,Boss is always Right!"
i nodded,I had decided not to stop him at any point and he went on and on and on...whatever he spoke was so simple,I must say... probably as you go higher things become simpler.We discussed many things,ranging from Satyam Scam to cultural similarities between Maharashtrians and telugus... "See,you have Rao we also have Rao,You Have Shatris we also have Shatris,But Thank God that You Don't have Reddys,hahha.. Also, the style of wearing Saree is similar!"

Our Conversation was getting more and more interesting, but It was more than 40 minutes and I was getting a bit restless as I had some important tasks still to be done. He might have sensed it and said, "I am Mallikarjun,Its a common name among telugus. " I smiled and shook hands with him. We exchanged the numbers and said bye with a promise from him that whenever he is in town he will give me call, and we may again meet over a Spl.Chaai.