16/10/2017
In ancient times, the cultivation and drinking of tea spread from China to Japan, Taiwan and Southeast Asia. Tea or chai in Cantonese was first tasted in the European continent in Lisbon, Portugal in the sixteenth century.
This week, we trace the timelines of tea and explore our traditional cha ghor in our villages and sub-town cities. Tea is a drink made by steeping processed leaves, buds or twigs of a tea bush in hot water for a few minutes.
There are four basic types of tea: black tea, oolong tea, green tea and white tea. The term 'herbal tea' usually refers to infusions of fruit or herbs such as rosehip tea and chamomile tea which contain no tea leaves. Tea is a natural source of caffeine, theophylline and so on and it has a cooling, slightly bitter and astringent taste.
In Bangladesh, local tea stalls have an earthen, rustic look to them. In reality we have never opted for aesthetic enhancements for our tea stalls. They are normally located at railway or bus stations, near bazaars and factories or other areas of business.
Tea first arrived in our country during the era of British rule. Retracing the history or literature of that period reveals that tea was initially intended for the consumption of men while they leisured in their living rooms or baithak khanas. Women who drank tea in that period were often criticised.
The history of the Bangladeshi tea industry dates back to around 1823 when tea started to be grown for commercial purposes in the Assam forests. In 1855, the Assam indigenous tea plant was established in the Chandghani Hills of Sylhet.
Near about the same time, wild tea was found growing in the Khasiand Jainta Hills. Around 1840, tea plantations started developing in Chittagong. The first commercial tea plantation was established in 1857 in Mulnichera, Sylhet
In recent times, tea has become one of the most popularly consumed and widely available drinks in Bangladesh, and indeed, in the rest of the world.
Our local versions of tea houses or tea stalls are called tongs or cha ghor; these open early in the morning and fortunately for some, serve customers well into the night. They are usually run as small enterprises, with a young boy happily serving customers and performing basic functions of cleanliness and the owner managing the cash box.
In rural areas, tongs are constructed of purely natural materials, often using combinations of wood or tin walls and thatched roofs. In both rural and peri-urban areas, clay burners are widely used. A beautiful silver kettle, soot-blackened from use is constantly on the boil as is a round saucepan with milk on another burner.
Cha tongs usually have benches or wooden seating arrangements and they stock a variety of biscuits, bananas, potato chips, chocolates, mints and ci******es.
Tongs do not subscribe to urban or extravagant rules of decor but they have their own signature styles in terms of fixtures and fittings.
Their snacks are usually stored in transparent jars with red caps and their lighters are conveniently hung from string on their shop fronts. Most distinguishably, they serve tea in simple white cups or small transparent glasses that have become quite the domestic trend of late.
A cha tong is not a simple tea house; it is also a news room for a remote village. People come here to discuss and deliberate on politics, to listen to the news on the radio and to catch up on local gossip.
With the advent of numerous Bangladeshi radio stations, the youth of the village gather at the stalls to listen to music and talk shows. Similarly, the root of all rural political discussion can also be traced back to the gatherings at cha tongs.
Cha tongs have long become a common and welcome sight for travellers on inter-city highways, providing them with much needed respite and refreshment. Stop by at a tea stall near you and discover the little cup of magic!
Nazneen Haque Mimi
Interior Consultant
JOURNEYMAN
Photo Credit: M Mühammad Nasim
