Tea from Assam

Ans. Rajvir found the view outside the train splendid and eye catching with a lot of greenery. It was his first visit to Assam and he was fascinated by the sprawling tea gardens, spreading like the green sea of neatly pruned bushes and found it more interesting to watch, than reading his book on detectives.

Ans. Pranjol’s father agreed to Rajvir information about it being the second-flush or sprouting period and it lasted from May to July and yields the best tea.

Ans. According to Chinese legend, once a few leaves of the twigs burning under the pot fell into the water and gave a delicious flavour. According to the Indian legend, Bodhidharma cut of his eyelids because he felt sleepy during meditation and threw them on the earth. Ten tea plants grew out of those eyelids. When he boiled them in water and drunk that water, it banished his sleep.

Ans. The view around the tree estate was magnificent. There was greenery all round. Against the backdrop of densely wooded hills, a sea of tea bushes stretched as far as the eye could see. Dwarfing the tiny tea plants were tall sturdy shade-trees and amidst the orderly rows of bushes busily moved doll-like figures of tea-pluckers.

Rajvir had a log of information about tea. He told Pranjol that though there are many legends about it, no one actually knows about the origin of it. One Chinese legend says that it was accidently discovered by a Chinese Emperor. Another legend, which is Indian, says that it was discovered by Bodhidharma. The legend, which says that he cut off his eyelids as he felt himself sleepy during meditation and tea plants grew out of them to banish sleep when they were drunk. He also knew that tea was first drunk in China in 2700 B.C. and it reached Europe in the sixteenth century as a medicine. He also informed Pranjol that the words ‘tea’, ‘chai’, and ‘chini’ are Chinese. He even had knowledge about the sprouting season on the second-flush which is the best in the world.

Ans. Rajvir had been invited to spend his vacations with his classmate Pranjol whose father was the manager of a tea estate in Assam. He was quite excited about the trip and had gathered considerable amount of relevant information i.e., where tea originated and how it became such a popular beverage. He informed that about 80 crore cups of tea are consumed daily and that the name ‘tea’ itself has been originated from Chinese language. He narrated two popular legends about the origin of tea. Rajvir exhibits an important value trait, that is the pre-requisite to gain knowledge – curiousity and eagerness to know. Moreover, he is not passive learner but is proactive in collecting prior information to any real experience. He likes to do his homework thoroughly before going to a place. This is something very appreciable and children should develop this habit of finding out about the place they are going to visit. These are extremely desirable traits for all learners.