The untold story of the tea tribes of Assam, who nurture and bring tea to the world, while struggling to make ends meet
Words by Aritra Chakraborthy; Art by Jemma Jose
Making tea, I’ve been told, is both an art and a science. It involves an accurate sense of measurement and timing to derive the required aroma, colour and flavour. It is a ritual — one that takes years of practice and perseverance. At my home, this delicate, but important, task is, thus, left to the deft hands of my mother.
Every morning, she waltzes into the kitchen, in a sleepy daze, and starts to boil the water on the stove. Becoming the audience, I watch her perform this symphony. She opens the jar and hoists a spoonful of tea leaves right above the simmering water. She adds two spoons of it in rapid succession and before the water reaches a boil, turns off the gas. Within the next ten minutes, I find myself dipping a Marie biscuit into the piping hot black tea.
On the historical trail
Tea’s status as a national drink in India has its origin in the Bengal renaissance. Tea had achieved commercial stardom after its discovery in Assam in 1823. However, the present all-unifying cultural status eluded the drink. It was, then, limited to the elite British and the Indian aristocracy. It was only during the 20th century that tea…
