TEA - Script

I n India, chai is more than just a cup of tea to start the day – the thick
sweet drink is an integral part of the rhythm of life. Everything, from

neighbourly gossip to intense political discussions happens over a
cup of tea. One of the oldest drinks in history, chai is also India’s most
popular drink – the country consumes a whopping 837,000 tonnes of
tea every year!
“If you are cold, tea will warm you;

if you are too heated, it will cool you;
If you are depressed, it will cheer you;
If you are excited, it will calm you.”
― William Ewart Gladstone
Given how ubiquitous a cup of chai is across India, and

how chai drinking transcends all boundaries, it come as a surprise
that not many Indians know about the fascinating history of tea in
India.
So, on the 12th International Tea Day, enjoy a beautiful cup
of tea and appreciate the origins of your favorite cuppa as we
reveal the story of how tea become an inevitable part of
Indian lives.
Like the history of any famous beverage, the origins of chai are
steeped in legend and contradictory accounts. In ancient
India, chai was not the term used for the tea we know today, but for a
healing concoction made by brewing herbs and spices, much like the
traditional kada. In fact, the earliest chai did not contain any tea leaves,
and its recipes differed according to the seasons and available
ingredients.
However, there is a slight difference between a chai and kada –
while chai uses herbs and spices associated more with
aroma, kada uses herbs, leaves and flowers mainly for their medicinal
properties. Also, chai is brewed for a lesser time than kada. There are
also many other versions of the story of how the first cup of tea came
about in India.

One story goes that chai was developed by accident when a Buddhist monk
on his way to China, observed the local ritual of chewing on a few wild
leaves and tried it himself. On feeling rejuvenated, he decided to bring it back
to India with him. Interestingly, tea is believed to have been first discovered
by mistake 5000 years ago when the Emperor of China found tea leaves in
his pot of boiling water. Known for his scientific curiosity, he proceeded to
taste the drink and loved it. Before long, tea became a staple of Chinese
culture.
Another legend has it that it was a king in ancient India (most likely
Harshavardhana, under whose patronage Nalanda University reached its
zenith) who developed chai to remain alert during long court hour. Some
historians also believe that Emperor Ashoka too had made it a part of his
various peace treaties and court culture, a habit that eventually percolated
down to common people.
Dutch traveller, Jogn Hughen Von Linschoten, who visited India

in 1538 AD, corroborated this fact in his account of his visit to India.
He wrote:
“Indians ate the leaves as a vegetable with garlic and oil and boiled the leaves
to make a brew.”
There is a third legend that says Sanjeevani buti (and its concoction),
which brought a comatose Lakshman alive in the epic Ramayana, is
the first chai. Interestingly, the shrub that finds mention in each of the
tales is akin to Camellia sinensis, a tea shrub that was discovered by
the British in Assam in 1823.
Talking of Assam, the northeastern state has a long historical
connection with tea. Since at least the 12th century, leaves of tea
shrubs that grew wild were used as medicine by the Singhpo tribe in
Assam. The Singphos, believed to be among India’s first tea drinkers,
still process tea through the traditional centuries-old method, dhooan
chaang.
Tea leaves being hand rolled in Assam
It was also the Singhpo chief, Bisa Gam, who introduced tea to
Englishman Robert Bruce and his brother Charles in 1823. The
Britishers discovered that the assamica variety of tea was much better
suited to the region than the Chinese sinensis variety growing at higher
elevations and colder climates. Soon, they established tea plantations
as an alternative to the expensive Chinese tea they were habituated to
consuming. Indian tea production grew significantly under the British
who employed native people to work in the fields.
The Singphos believe that a cup of their traditionally brewed tea after
every meal aids digestion, and credit it with keeping the community
relatively free from cancer and diabetes. Even during the reign of the
Ahom kings in Assam, Laal Chaa (a brew made of special wild leaves
grown in Assam) was a popular welcome drink in the homes of both,
royals and commoners.
Promotion
As for the question when and where was milk added to tea, tea
historians believe that the first iteration of chai with milk was
developed by travellers and traders mostly likely from Gujarat,
Maharashtra and Bengal, people who had easy access to good quality
milk. With growing cross-country trade, sweet milky chai soon
became the go-to drink, at least for the office bearers (and workers),
to sustain a rather long day. Soon, masala chai (chai favoured by
aromatic spices) was born and was usually served with a sweet or
savoury toast, a hybrid of Indian and British tradition.
Over time, an exchange of customs and cultural ideas led to a growing

thirst for tea among all classes, not simply the wealthy. Thanks to the
British Raj, the concept of tea time also came into existence. It is also
worth noting that tea wasn’t an overnight success in India. Each
region and community in India took its own time to adopt and adapt
tea to its own tastes. Today, there are a billion possible ways in which
this combination can be effected in India, the most popular ones
being Mumbai’s cutting chai, the rich Irani chai of Hyderabad, the
fragrant Darjeeling chai, the mellow Assam chai, the strong masala
chai of Gujarat and the delicate pink Kashmiri chai.
However, it was not until William McKercher invented the CTC (cut,
tear, curl) method of making tea, that tea became cheaper and India’s
favourite brew became affordable for the masses. With Iranian cafes
and Coffee Houses putting it on the menu, chai also became the brew
for intellectuals – it soon became a political ally in every meeting,
discussion and even strikes.
So it was India’s CTCs that turned turned an entire generation (and

generations thereafter) of Indians into ritual tea drinkers. Strong,
flavoured, aromatic or all three together, the CTC blends made and
consumed in India are among the best in the world and can go up to a
couple of thousand rupees depending upon the blend of leaves, buds
and granules (leaves give the aroma, buds the health, granules and
dust the colour and strength).
The fact that chai is now not just a beverage, but woven into the fabric
of this nation is hard to dispute. Today, no matter where you are in
India, you’re probably not very far from a chai stall, little roadside
shacks that go by different names in different parts of the country.
Tea sold at these humble outlets is often the cheapest, the most
delicious and the ideal refreshment in every kind of weather. And it is
impossible to deny that “chai…chai-garam” has woken up several
billion more Indians on Indian Railways than “coffee-nescoffee” ever
could.
So the next time you reach sleepily for your morning cup, or share a
version of the brew with your colleague or or even stock up on the
biscuits you love dunking in your favourite beverage, remember it isn’t
just chai you are consuming – it is history, diversity and popular
culture, all amalgamated into one cup!
India loves tea – From roadside shack to high-end mall, a cozy corner
can be found out with this drink in hands. Of the total production, India
accounts for 3/4th domestic consumption of tea. The growing demand
for tea for its aroma and quality is majorly driving the India tea
industry. Tea found in India is categorized into 3 types namely Assam
tea (highest cultivation), Darjeeling tea (Superior quality tea) and
Nilgiri tea (subtle and gentle flavors).
Tea brands are constantly innovated to make the drink for millennial
generation .Youngsters in India prefer their tea cold and with exotic
flavors – obsession for green and black tea for the health benefits,
has led to some of the best innovations. Today, people beat the heat
and chill in the winters with different flavored tea.
This bhaijaan starrer with vocals by Anu Malik was a high voltage pairing back in the 90s.
The cool charismatic Salman Khan is shown slurping a cup of piping hot tea and then
showing off his six-pack, along with a bunch of girls wearing beachwear!
In this deep and profound song he wishes he had a girl who was as ‘piping’ hot as the ‘garam
chai ki pyaali’. Chai is the favourite beverage of Indians – which probably explains why this
song took off like it did.
One of the earliest references of a health potion in epics is that of the

Sanjeevani herb in Ramayana, which some believe is a form of tea.
Since the herb was used to restore life, it can be categorized as a
divine herb and hence the arguments of Sanjeevani being a form of tea
does not hold good.
The popular consensus among historians in the aspect of tea is that it

had its origins in China in the 4th century BC as a stimulating drink,
prepared by boiling tea leaves in water. While we are at it, let’s check
out a popular Chinese anecdote throwing some light on the “accidental
discovery” of Tea.
As mentioned earlier, tea in India was being consumed in different

forms across geographies in different ways which might sound
interesting. For example, in the Kutch region of Gujarat, it has been a
practice for hundreds of years among certain tribes & communities to
boil tea leaves along with milk & sugar, strain the blended liquid to
retain only the leaves and throw away the tea itself!! These boiled
leaves which were enriched with milk & sugar would be served as a
delicious snack.
In certain regions of North-East India, tea leaves were mixed with

cooked rice and after overnight soaking, the dish would be slightly
fermented and consumed as a meal. This custom is still in practice in
some parts of NE India, and is part of the Burmese cuisine. In several
parts of India, tea leaves with tulsi herb, honey & ginger were used as
ayurvedic medicine to treat cough & cold. In the 16th century, there
were travel accounts of Portuguese & Dutch, citing that people of India
prepared a vegetable dish using tea leaves along with garlic and oil
and the boiled tea leaves were used to prepare a medicinal drink as
well. There might have been several more ways in which tea was
consumed by Indians across the sub-continent adapted accordingly to
their cultures & cuisines.

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I n India, chai is more than just a cup of tea to start the day – the thick

sweet drink is an integral part of the rhythm of life. Everything, from

“If you are cold, tea will warm you;

Given how ubiquitous a cup of chai is across India, and

Dutch traveller, Jogn Hughen Von Linschoten, who visited India

Over time, an exchange of customs and cultural ideas led to a growing

So it was India’s CTCs that turned turned an entire generation (and

One of the earliest references of a health potion in epics is that of the

The popular consensus among historians in the aspect of tea is that it

As mentioned earlier, tea in India was being consumed in different

In certain regions of North-East India, tea leaves were mixed with

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