International Tea Day: How this brew was made popular in literature

Representation pic

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: DOUGLAS Adams sneaks in his fascination for tea through an episode in the iconic book. Arthur Dent yearns for a cup of tea on the spaceship to take a moment of respite. Instead, he gets a liquid from the Nutri-Matic drink dispenser, which is nothing like tea.

Douglas Adams. Pic courtesy/Open Culture

There is humour in witnessing Dent try to reason with the machine, sitting it down and explaining how the leaves come from India, Ceylon, and China. All he ends up getting, despite his best efforts, is an undrinkable liquid from the machine that boasts of being able to produce any drink possible.

Irrfan Khan and Tabu in a still from the movie, The Namesake

The Namesake: Tea connects the Ganguli family in Jhumpa Lahiri's classic to home. Ashima and Ashoke are immigrants in the US, and find comfort in sharing a thermos of tea on a bench outside the MIT campus. The two also bond with Bengali acquaintances abroad over shared cups of Lopchu tea, which makes friendships easy. While their son Gogol has no particular fondness for it earlier, he's later found drinking tea with Moushumi, his wife. Gogol constantly struggles to find a sense of belongingness, and tea becomes a quiet symbol that reflects his wrestle with a hyphenated identity.

Ambai

Death of a Sarus Crane: Tamil writer Ambai's detective Sudha Gupta begins her day with a cup of cinnamon tea. She drinks from a coffee mug with a picture of a magnifying glass, gifted to her by her daughter. No case is solved without her tea. Several exchanges and revelations take place over several cups. No matter how many Sudha Gupta stories you read, you will always encounter Ambai's endearing indulgence in detailing her detective's routine of bringing the kettle to a boil and adding a bag of cinnamon tea to it, before diving into the case.

George Orwell. Pics courtesy/Wikimedia Commons

A Nice Cup of Tea: George Orwell's essay is a delightful read on what he considers to be his golden rules of making tea. He gives us 11 points, which include the tea leaves to be used, the ideal container to boil as well as to drink in, stirring or shaking the pot, milk and sugar quantities, among other things. This makes for an interesting read alongside the rules for Earl Grey Tea written by Douglas Adams. Read both to see which ones you find yourself nodding along to.

Shona Patel

Teatime for the Firefly: Drawing on her own experience of being raised on a remote tea plantation in Assam, Shona Patel gives us a story from the tea gardens of north India in the 1940s. The protagonist Layla marries the Oxford-educated Manik Deb, who has taken up a managerial role at one such plantation in Assam. He is one of the earliest Indians to have been assigned this role. Most others live the life of tea planters under colonial rule. Patel examines the economic exploitation and everyday challenges of the planters through the eyes of Layla and Manik. Couple this with Mulk Raj Anand's Two Leaves and a Bud.

Oscar Wilde

The Importance of Being Earnest: Oscar Wilde is a master of writing scenes that navigate precarious situations over tea. During a tea service in the play, one of the characters, Cecily, makes a bad cup of tea for Gwendolen. She deliberately adds four lumps of sugar and cuts a big slice of cake despite Gwendolen's refusal of the offer. The demeanour of the two characters remains poised, but there is tension in the air. Their jealousy towards each other does not go unnoticed. Tea service becomes an excellent tool that Wilde uses to portray appearances kept by folks of the Victorian era.

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