It started off as a mere fad. My extended family has contributed generously towards making India the diabetes capital of the world and continues to do so with a missionary zeal. Somehow I was overcome with the desire to break free from this herd.
As a small token I decided to forego sugar for my morning tea, though maintain the status quo regarding tea at other times and all my other insulin-hostile indulgences such as sweets, cakes and ice-creams.
I knew it was not an easy decision. I had on some occasions accidentally sipped the sugar-free tea meant for my father, only to recoil at its dour taste and reach for the sugar jar. Hence the skeptic in me felt that a week will be the max I will stick to my new fitness goal.
On day one I was sipping my morning cuppa as if it were one of those kashayams (liquid ayurvedic formulations) made by Kottakkal Arya Vaidya Sala. I was also reminded of those leafy herbal remedies I had taken while I was down with jaundice during my school days.
That was also probably the longest duration I took to finish my morning tea with my tongue and palate revolting against this 'tasteless' brew. And the skeptic in me savoured his 'I told you so' sneer.
But I did not give up. I soldiered on for a few more days, barring occasional relapses, more due to absent-mindedness than any mellowing of intent. Soon the morning cuppa sans sugar began to appear a bit more bearable, and my tongue and palate seemed more reconciled to the new fare.
Gradually I discovered that sugarless tea had its own taste and began to appreciate what tea connoisseurs have been saying all along:
- Tea is meant to be bitter like beer.
- It should be enjoyed without sugar.
- It is an acquired taste.
They look down upon those adding sugar and warn that they were destroying the taste of tea and instead tasting mere sugar.
Now more than a decade later I have been following this routine, barring while travelling. In fact, now mornings look tasteless if the first tea of the day has sugar in it.
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