Excited to share the first entry into my Portrait project ‘Chai Sessions : Our Parents’
About the Project /
Chai time is an important ritual in our culture and many others. For some parents it is an addiction, a time for family discussions, a quiet moment to themselves, others just a “time pass”. Chai is a bond that we all share but this ritual can be different from home to home. With these sessions I hope to capture our parents in their element at home enjoying their chai and daily ritual, where they are comfortable and themselves.
Each portrait will be accompanied by a short bio and story of our parents Chai time ritual and history. My hope is as this project moves forward I will be able to exhibit my work in a Gallery show in 2017. Thank you for your support and I hope you enjoy the work.
Jaswant Kaur Sohi
Born : September 13, 1932
Village in India : Pharwali, District Ludhiana
First came to Canada in 1984
I drink Chai because : “For energy, for relaxation and to socialize with family and friends.”
Chai Time Story :
“When I first came to Canada, while visiting a cousin, around Chai time, I was offered either Chai or ice-cream. I decided to change it up and have some ice-cream. When served, the ice-cream didn’t look right – something seemed off. It was supposed to be white and creamy looking – instead it looked and tasted like it was burnt. I couldn’t eat it and left it untouched. When asked why I didn’t even touch it, I told my cousin, I think it’s burnt. Everyone around me laughed…. that day I learned that ice-cream comes in different flavours and that was my first experience with chocolate ice-cream – which to this day, I still don’t enjoy and would rather stick to my Chai.
I really like your chai time concept.
This is a fantastic concept. I think many of us have become so busy with life, that at times we unknowingly fail to pay much attention to our elders. The stories that each and everyone of them have is truly remarkable, and it is great that you have shed some light on this. Looking forward to seeing your blog progress and hopefully this encourages many of us to reexamine our relationships with our beloved elders.