India, April 19 -- Dear Reader,

In Manali, the light streams in early, lighting up our bedroom at 5:30 am. It's deliciously cozy under the quilt, but I think about my to-do list. Time to head downstairs to get tea.

In my grandmother's kitchen, I switch on the electric kettle. As the water boils, I spoon tea leaves into the pretty china teapot my daughters bought me for my birthday. It has dainty Chinese girls in swirling red and white gowns, blue clouds, and, in a corner, a little Shinto shrine. Beside it, on the wooden tray, I set out two mismatched mugs, and then finally the most important thing of all-my grandmother's quilted half-moon cover that keeps the pot warm.

This tea cozy takes me back to tea times in the study in this famil...