Sheen Chai is Pahto for green tea. Pashto is the most widely spoken language in Sikanderabad as it is the language of Northern Pakistan and most of the residents hail from there. It is also understood and spoken by most of the Afghan Refugees so that is a plus. Whichever house or school you visit they'll stand up to greet you with the most gorgeous smiles, and ask you to sit on the nicest room in their houses. Although most houses face power cuts when we go meet them in the afternoon, they'll turn on the small generators which can power one fan and bulb just for you.
Most of them insist to serve you food no matter what time of the day it is. If you say no, they always have tea ready. I personally do not like tea but my other team members go for it happily. They began offering me flavored juice instead and even flavored milk once ha. I tried settling in for water instead until one day they said have Sheen Chai which is their traditional drink and it was absolutely heavenly. I had had a big breakfast before going to the school that day and after i drank it I felt so light and refreshed. My mother generally drinks the commercially available green tea at home and this one was much better because it was straight from where it is grown in Northern Pakistan and it is not sold under any label, just by its weight. Guess I know what I'll be asking for every time I am there now.
I feel bad that they are all poor and cannot afford to go out of their way to feed us every time we visit but I had quiet an interesting conversation with this elder from the area about it. She said we are Pashtun and it is in our blood to serve our guests better than we eat. We consider it our good fortune if we have visitors, that way we have a chance to serve others. And she said do not say no when you are offered food fearing that it is expensive for us, we do it gladly. And we feel respected when an outsider eats with us and from our house. And what you eat was already given to us from God, just for you, so it is our good fortune that God chose us for this.
Their simplicity in daily life continues to amaze me.
By Zainab Faiza
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