Drink Your Tea
There should be laughter after pain. There should be sunshine after rain. These things have always been the same. So why worry now.
Image credit: Siddarth RG, Siddarth’s Newsletter
This flash essay is part of a collaborative, constrained-writing challenge undertaken by some members of the Bangalore Substack Writers Group. This month, we used the prompt, ‘What’s keeping you afloat in a turbulent world?’. At the bottom of this snippet, you’ll find links to other essays by fellow writers.
Disclaimer
Given the current circumstances, I understand that it’s a privilege to share this opinion when people are battling for survival and trying their best to swim to the surface to catch a breath. And I, being fully aware of this disposition, wish to exercise this privilege to share my two cents. That said, you too have the privilege to read this post and contemplate, if time and patience permits. Or you’re free to skip and scroll onto another post, if you may. More importantly, as I wrote this post, I felt this was a reflection that resonated with me the most. If not for anything, this is a #notetoself
What’s Brewing
There is an onslaught of headlines, reels, viral videos on whatsapp or social media and more importantly updates from people you speak to in person and those you connect with online that is too overwhelming. This is an age of information overkill. There are breaking news/stories coming your way even when you seldom go looking and there are different versions of the stories based on where and how you look. In this tumultuous time, there is little one could do to ignore it all and stay sane. So, how can one stay afloat when the tides are high, the boat is rocking and storms are raging? Well, that’s something I’m figuring out too while I write (and you get to be part of this endeavor in parallel as you read).
Why Worry
From whatever little I’ve known memory is a fraudster. Future is an enticer and a worry-inducer, in equal parts. The present is your current companion, yet we all let it slip away easily. And what makes this equation complicated are flashes from the seen past and worries about the unseen future that eclipses the now. More importantly, the barrage of distractions in the present that screams from the rooftop that everything is on fire. However, there’s a remedy to stay anchored to the now. To be involved in what we do. To engage with what’s given to you wholeheartedly. Simply said, though it’s not that simple to say, it’s all about being mindful. While you’re at it, here’s a song from Dire Straits that just aligns with your current state of mind. Maybe, if you choose, drink the tea when you listen and follow or read the lyrics below. Sit back, plug in your earphones, close your eyes and lean in to listen.
Why Worry – written & composed by Mark Knopfler
Baby, I see this world has made you sad
Some people can be bad
The things they do, the things they say
But baby, I’ll wipe away those bitter tears
I’ll chase away those restless fears
And turn your blue skies into gray
Why worry
There should be laughter after pain
There should be sunshine after rain
These things have always been the same
So why worry now
Why worry now
Baby, when I get down I turn to you
And you make sense of what I do
And though it isn’t hard to say
But baby, just when this world seems mean and cold
Our love comes shining red and gold
And all the rest is by the way
Why worry
There should be laughter after pain
There should be sunshine after rain
These things have always been the same
So why worry now
Why worry now
As I listen to this song on loop, what’s truly comforting is — the song seems like it’s ending at 4:25 but that very next second it continues with the mellow riffs and rhythm. It’s as though Mark Knopfler* is giving you your space to sit back, listen and decide for yourself with the extended outro. Experience the calmness in the still as you revisit those lyrics in your head. More so, if you wish to see a different point of view, it’s like the cup of tea before you that’s singing to you as the vapor wafts over its placid surface. Asking you, ‘Why Worry’. Perhaps, when you listen to this song again from this angle the whole experience elevates.
“just when this world seems mean and cold
Our love comes shining red and gold
And all the rest is by the way.”
Especially, these abovementioned words, cue the flavours of tea. While the songwriter’s intent could have been hinting at love’s passion (red) and purity (gold), the same red and gold also refer to the strong and lighter blends of tea, accordingly. Maybe, I’m stretching this a bit too much. Or do you have another perspective to share? Feel free to add in the comments.
*In a 1989 interview with the BBC, Knopfler expressed mixed feelings about this section, calling it "a very pointless thing to me now, all that faffing around with pretty sounds" Courtesy: musicradar.com
Would it help?
Now, before I close, I wish to share this scene from Steven Spielberg’s Bridge of Spies. To set some context, this conversation is between Tom Hanks who plays a lawyer and Mark Rylance, who is an accused spy. While the latter has been convicted of spying and the former is fighting for his release, the lawyer notices in his brief encounters with his client that he is least worried. And these scenes capture the sentiment of the client quite poignantly.
Pause. Indulge, leisurely.
Drink Your Tea by Thich Nhat HahnDrink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on which the world earth revolves – slowly, evenly, without rushing toward the future; Live the actual moment. Only this moment is life.
Bonus for reading till the end: Here’s a clip from my most favourite series “Modern Family” on how control is an illusion. What’s meant to happen will happen. What’s up to us is how to deal with this change. So, to worry is still a choice.
PS: Drink the tea. Skip the Kool aid.
Read on for other Essays based on the same theme from my fellow members of the Bangalore Substack Writers Group:
40 mins and bird-by-bird by Amit, EarlyNotes
The small pleasures and blessings of life by Rakhi Kurup, Rakhi’s Substack
Some mornings I want to fix the world by Shruti Soumya, Same Here
It ends or It does not by Nidhi, General in her labyrinth
Water, water everywhere by Shwetha Harsha , ChutneyMIx
What’s keeping me afloat in this turbulent world? By Ritika Arora, Not a Straight Line
Gardens, Parks and Scrambled Thoughts by Ameya, Always Ameya
What’s keeping me afloat in a turbulent world? By Divya Sivaram, Beta Brain
A Black Tote Bag By Spandana, Spandana’s Substack
What keeps me afloat: A list, By Shruthi, Will you be my Friend?
#acnotes
Hadn't heard of Why Worry toll today. Thanks for sharing, AC.
And delighted to see a Modern Family reference on your piece as well! 😀
:)