I drink tea largely thanks to the Jains—Professor and Mrs. V. K. Jain. Prof. Jain was my father’s colleague in the Indian Institute of Science.
We would visit with the Jain’s from time to time. And, Mrs Jain would, unfailingly, whip up her amazing British tea offering—hot tea and English biscuits. As a 10 year old, I recall thinking that she was one heck of a chef.
Since my parents only drank coffee, tea had this lovely scarcity value to it. The aroma was quite different, wonderful and inviting. During one of the visits, I was permitted to sip some tea. And, I was hooked for life. (Fortunately, Surekha is from Delhi. So. it all worked out 
Anyways, back to the story. Mrs. Jain would bring the tea in a pot covered by a tea cosy! It looked quaint. But, truth be told, I never really understood why one needed a cosy. Till this past week when Surekha discovered a cosy lying around the house and chose to put it to work. I was struck by the thermal efficiency of a simple piece of cloth. The tea remained warm for an extended period of time, and the number of times I had to reheat the tea dropped. Energy efficiency!
Pretty fascinating how simple designs can achieve wonderful outcomes! No microwave, thank you.
PS: If you want to brew your own masala chai, ping me. Thanks to covid, we’ve been experimenting and have a recipe for the adventurous.
