‘Tea,’ and ‘Assam’ are synonymous with one another. So it isn’t a surprise that Asia’s largest and oldest tea research institute is located in Jorhat, in Assam. In 1891,…
The historical figures associated with tea are mostly refined, respectable, peaceful and admirable: Jane Austen, Anton Chekhov and Leo Tolstoy among writers, for instance. How about their opposites:…
It was just as I expected. And then it wasn’t. My first stop in Assam was a village called Margherita, home to the Singpho tribe. I had visions of a…
Bertie Wooster went out of his way to grow one (much to the displeasure of Jeeves, his wise butler), Salvador Dali’s pointy concoction became as iconic as Mona…
To make smart choices about tea, you need some heuristics: simple rules of thumb that give you a good enough answer most of the time. A heuristic may…
Around 1 in the afternoon, our car rolled into the driveway of the Chota Tingrai bungalow. Even as we stepped out, a Jeep came up behind us and…
Losing your keys is a major disruption. The car, house, office and of course your tea container. You do lock up your tea bags, surely? And you carry…
It’s 7.45 am and I find myself hurtling down the narrow lanes of Assam’s town Jorhat, to catch the 8.30 ferry from Nimati Ghat to Majuli, the largest river…