Some High Tea, my Dear

                                                Strolling in the restaurant mid -afernoon , taking the view of the bustling city which seemed so good , especially since i had a holiday. Through the lanes and the by-lanes, I spotted this restaurant - right in front of my eyes. The place was hidden in the urban city. In the mad rush of the shoppers and the hawkers, was this tiny hiddden paradise. The beautiful flower in the marshes - staring at you, while you stared at her like she had found a lover. And she did ... I loved the place the minute I saw it.

            So I walked in the restaurant, and the sight that met my eyes!! It had kept its history alive, A British restaurant in urban India. The afternoon skies shone through the glass, lighting the place so naturally and beautifully. There were round tables in whitecloth and silver cutlery adorning them. The room was naturally lit, but it appeared like it was glowing. The stewart came up to me, and introduced me to the table, ( Hey, what am I saying?) Did i just say that. Well, he just ushered me to the table. So I took a seat, and relaxed in my new found den, I would like to say so. Then the steward came by, stared by greeting me and asking what I would like to have. I ordered a lemon mocktail to begin with, and then I saw that they were promoting high tea. I decided to go for high tea, and mentioned it to the steward. The steward had a puzzled look on his face. He confirmed my request, and I confirmed it for him saying that I would like to go for high tea. Suddenly , his eyes lit up and he asked me " you must be talking about afternoon tea". I was taken aback " I'm talking about high tea, the one you are promoting ". The steward said that we do have high tea, but it's not available now. so what do you mean, that you promote high tea , and you do not have it? The steward corrected himself to say, that we do have it but not right now. Its available later. That was bit releiving, but what was the afternoon tea the steward was talking about.

              So he asked me what I thought would be given in high tea. HIgh tea would be made up mainly of three things - sweets , savouries and  dainty cakes , along with tea. " That's what you are going to get in afternoon tea" the steward said. Oh, is it .. I said happily. So I agreed and the steward went to the kitchen to inform the kitchen staff. Sipping my mocktail, I looked around- the people in this place were urban, but they had that same sense of the love for good things and culture, or else they would not be here. The steward came in with the order. A stand with three trays on it , one above the other.  The lowest one consisted of the savouries - pattice , finger sandwitches and cold cuts of bacon and ham. The second tray was full of sweets - cookies, chocolate, brownies and two cups - one for jam and the other for butter. The third layer consisted of  cakes, one layer only for cakes - cupcakes, slice cakes, rum cakes , a variety all placed around  the tray. The bread was places at the side - loaves and the kettle for tea and milk were right next to it. Sugar was separate, so I could choose my type of  sweetness.

               Picking up the fork, I took bread in my hands and put the bacon in the bread, but before putting the bacon, I applied butter to get the divine feel of meat in my meal, and to spice it up a little coriander. This activity continued a lot with the tea I had poured for myself.  I normally would have this with half - fried eggs, because the yolk from the egg combines well with the bacon and gives an amazing taste. but the bacon tasted well even with out the eggs,so I went about having the bacon in bread and moved on to the finger sandwitches. Some were cucumber, then there was a mixture of onions and tomatoes with beans, cheese and sliced potatoes , everything had while sipping tea. While having this meal, there were pictures of the Yesteryear staring at me. Pictures of British colonels in their headgear, huge men with burly moustaches, staring down at me. Wonderful pictures of British India with Universities, factories and railways that were made by the British. Some memorabilia too was shown out there, with trains and houses all placed in a particular corner for show, reminding you of the British era, when times could have been better. The infrastructure definitely shows it, the buildings built by the British still stand as hard as rock till today, anf the best part is that they were beautiful, and they're still beautiful today. after finishing the sandwitches I started with the sweets , took the bread - applied butter and jam on it. After the sandwitches which were spicy, thejam and butter just melted in my mouth. It went through my throat like it went through a slide,.. easy. The sweets were great , I took them in a plate with the cakes.. the yummiest kind.the sweets were digested with sips of tea flowing in between. A smile lit up on my face, one of contentment with the place and surroundings, and an inner peace prevailing as time went by.

          But I did wonder, the steward did talk about high tea, but it was something actually different. So I called the steward and asked him about the high tea he was referring to. So he began to explain that high tea was a complete different deal from afternoon tea. High tea was basically a worker class meal that involved meat, beans,potatoes and fish along with cakes and breads and tea. It was taken between 5pm - 7 pm in the evening. It was more of a filling meal than an affair to enjoy and for leisure. And he mentioned that since it  was already closing to five, the high tea was also getting ready and wanted to know if  i'd like to go for it. I said " I would love to , if it's free" to which he gave a broad smile. The afternoon tea had lightened me up in spirit, and what if I wanted to go ahead for the high tea? Why shouldn't I? I am a worker and I like high tea, but there's one thing - I have no family. So I gave him a nod for the bill and told the steward that I'm single now. I can't enjoy the high tea, but when I plan to start a family, I'll get mt better half with me and then I can have that high tea!!!

      Well, my dream still remains unfulfilled , but any families around here, you do have the chance to experience the charm of history. So , Some high tea, my dear!!!

if you have any comments,email me about his article, e-mail me at trinity145@rediffmail.com

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