No teaching without ‘tea’

     Every time I take a tea break during my teaching hours, I ponder how it came to be that “tea” forms the first three letters of  the word “ teacher” or “teaching”. And ironically enough, no teacher education program ever mentions even a single word about this. The English faculty at King Khalid University in Saudi Arabia, where I work, consists of teachers from 15 nationalities. One of the most obvious common traits I get to notice among them is taking tea. It provides me with the social proof that at least one thing I do as a teacher is commensurate with international teaching standards.Hats off to all tea-taking teachers from four continents.     Recently, I was selected as an invigilator for IELTS examinations. IELTS, as you may know, is  co-owned and administered by Cambridge English Language Assessment, the British Council, and IDP Education. In their special instructions to invigilators, I found a word of caution against having tea in the examination hall as the aroma may disrupt the concentration of test takers. It was something I had never thought of in my ten years of teaching. Hats off to IELTS for the new lesson on tea.

    Tea was first discovered by shepherds. They found their charges more energetic as these grazed in some valleys abundant with the leaves of a particular bush which was later identified as tea. Recently, I was told by an erudite scholar that the habit of drinking tea was adopted and popularized by King Solomon. In Islamic literature, he is known as the prophet Suleiman. That is how the word “Suleimani” for black tea got its currency in most Arab and South East Asian countries. This evergreen shrub (Camellia sinensis) is said to be native to Asia. Hats off to Asia.

     Kerala, where I come from, we drink black tea, often flavored with spices like pepper, lemon or cardamom, as a stimulant or as a digestive after a heavy, spicy, high-fat dish like biryani. It is also served as a welcome drink for guests during the monsoon and in winter.  In contrast, in Saudi Arabia it is the last course of a feast, with a choice of green or black tea after a heavy “Manthi” (traditional non-spicy rice with mutton or camel meat). According to Wikipedia,“Tea originated in China as a medicinal drink. It came to the West via Portuguese priests and merchants, introduced to it there during the 16th century. Drinking tea became fashionable among Britons during the 17th century,  who introduced the plant to their possessions in India to bypass a Chinese monopoly”.Most of the high-altitude areas in Kerala are covered in tea plantations. Hats off to plantation enthusiasts among the Britons.

     The tea you could see in the picture above comes in a red tin with a lable that reads “CHINA TEA”. It was a gift for my wife from Dr. Jessy and Dr. Muhsin. It is a kind of green tea very famously known  in China and Taiwan as Jasmine tea. It tastes and smells of jasmine with its distinctive aroma and looks green. Initially, I couldn't relate to the idea of smelling jasmine with every sip of tea, simply because I was not used to it. But later I offered it to some guests and they loved it at first sip. It seems to have affected my taste-buds too, to the extent that I am now almost addicted to it. I’m facing a predicament: I have no idea where I can get a fresh supply once the current supply runs out.

     I will most likely teach for the rest of my life. Teaching without a tea is something I can’t imagine - at least for now. A big ‘thank you’ to Mr. and Mrs. Muhsin. And it goes without  saying: a billion hats off to the Chinese.