A few days ago, I travelled to a marginalised area in Bengal that was once a prominent Mao region, and now an emerging tourist spot. The people living there are mostly below the poverty line, relying solely on tourism as their livelihood. What caught my attention, and inspired this entire write-up, was a small tea stall with an intriguing hoarding. It read:
"Tea in happiness, tea in sadness, tea in love, tea in a break-up, tea in meetings, tea in heartbreak; tea in everything... come, let's drink a cup together!"
That’s the place tea holds in our hearts, no matter where we are in the world. You might ask me, which tea - milk, green, or simply raw? Well, there are about 1,500 different kinds of tea, with the oldest one dating back 6,000 years in China.
An interesting legend surrounds the discovery of tea. It is said that Chinese emperor Shen Nung discovered tea in 2737 BCE when a leaf from a wild tree fell into his pot of boiling water. He enjoyed the drink so much that he decided to research the plant further.
Now, we don't know what he found from his research about our timeless friend; but historical records show that tea in its early days was consumed as a medicinal concotion in China. People might question, that where did the medicinal value of tea eloped with time? Well, scientific and clinical studies prove otherwise and will actually contradict the entire question. Tea leaves contain antioxidants that help reduce the risk of cancer, chronic diseases like cardiovascular problems, arthritis, and even alleviate stress & depression.
Speaking of stress and depression, tea has always been an emotional support for countless people. I remember my last day at school after the farewell function. My two close friends and I went to the railway station to have a cup of tea together for the last time being "school students". I remember how priceless that moment was- Waiting for the train, sipping into the milk tea in the earthen cups, the radio playing Kishore Kumar; and we reminiscing about the golden days gone by.....
The drink has its own magic. It knows everything about us... Our likes, dislikes, emotions; everything way more and way better, than probably we know ourselves.
To conclude and wrap things up, let me share a curious fact. There are actually two official dates for celebrating International Tea Day. The original date, December 15, was first celebrated in New Delhi, India, in 2005. Later, in 2019, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed May 21 as another International Tea Day.
Now, for a thing that is the world's most consumed drink after water, whose global market values around 260 billion dollars; two days of celebration seems quite fitting, isn't it?
