Page 15 - Seniorstoday December 2022 Issue

Fortune, to China on a mission to steal the
of the humungous population of these two
leading producers of tea. Overall, 65% of
people in India consume tea daily.
Masala chai or cutting chai is a speciality
in India, brewed as it is with creamy milk
and sugar. While we are used to having
it this way, we will be surprised to know
that tea is supposed to be had without milk
or sugar to retain the medicinal attributes
of anti-oxidants, flavonoids, caffeine etc.
in tea. Milk tea is fattening and unhealthy
and no less with added sugar. Blame it
on the British (who else?). They could not
handle the strong natural taste and aroma
of tea and hence introduced the practice of
infusing milk and sugar to tea when they
started imbibing it in the 18th century in all
its imperial and ritualistic regalia of ‘high
tea’ in ‘china’ware. And it has been the
practice in India too since then, as the Jewel
in the Colonial Crown. Japan has its famed
tea rituals as well, as a part of its cultural
milieu.
Talking of the British, few would know of
the Great British Tea Heist. The tea loving
colonist did not want to depend on China
for its tea supply and also had the urge
for supremacy on the world trade front.
So they sent a Scottish botanist, Robert
SENIORS TODAY | ISSUE #42 | DECEMBER 2022
tea and tea making process and transfer
and transplant knowledge to India. You
can perhaps call it the first industrial
espionage and stealing of intellectual
property! The former imperialist, the
British, are ‘heist’ notorious indeed.
I often say that there is no better teacher
than travel and that wisdom is the result
of curiosity, not merely the abundance of
education and information. I write this
column from the salubrious, but wet and
wintery climes of Munnar in God’s own
country. Nestled as it is amid verdant
peaks, tea and cardamom plantations, it
was a delightful and delectable discovery
to go on tea factory visits to watch the
manufacturing process and tea tasting
sessions to partake of the variegated brew.
And discover not just the taste of tea, but
the marvellous history of tea itself. From
the fields to our palates, the humble tea
makes for a fascinating journey indeed. It
was most gratifying to be welcomed with a
glass of hot black tea from the tea estates of
the two getaways that I retreated to.
There is a storm in the tea cup, for sure,
always on the boil. Yeh sirf ek chai katha
nahin, ek prem katha hain. Chai pe
charcha, anyone?
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