Presentation By – M K RohitT G T English (J N V Neemuch)

LESSON 7.GLIMPSES OF INDIACLASS 10TH (FIRST FLIGHT)

Tea from Assam-Arup Kumar Dutta

M K Rohit (T.G.T English)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Born on July 2, 1946, at Jorhat, Assam, in Eastern India, Arup Kumar Dutta did his Major and Masters in English Literature from Delhi University. He returned to Jorhat to teach English at J. B. College for several years before taking up writing as a full-time career. Dutta made a permanent place in the hearts of children with his very first book, Kaziranga Trail, in 1978, after which there was no looking back. The book not only won prestigious awards, but was also translated into many languages, both Indian and foreign, including Japanese, German, Russian, Czech, Hungarian and Italian. Kaziranga Trail was followed by other award-winning books, The Blind Witness, Smack, Revenge, The Lure of Zangrila (which won a National Award) and many others. Two of his books have been included in Literature of the World series by the Asahi Shimbun.

Main events of the lesson

TEA FROM ASSAM

Tea from AssamPranjol, a youngster from Assam, is Rajvir’s classmate in school in Delhi. Pranjol’s father is the manager of a tea garden in Upper Assam and Pranjol has invited Rajvir to visit his home during the summer vacation.

Model Lesson Rajvir and Pranjol on the way to Assam :-Rajvir and Pranjol were travelling to Assam. A tea

vendor called “chai-garam…garamchai” . They took tea and sipped it. Rajvir told Pranjol that over 800,000,000 cups of tea are drunk everyday throughout the world.

Tea gardens scene :-Rajvir looked at the beautiful scenery outside. Pranjol

kept raeding his detective book. There was greenery outside. Soon the soft green paddy fields gave way to tea bushes . There were shade trees also over the areas. In the distance there was an ugly building. It was a tea garden

Tea garden

ABOUT LEGENDS BEHIND TEA:- They were in Assam, the tea country. Assam has

the largest concentration of tea plantations in the world. Rajvir told Pranjol that no one really knew who discovered tea. There were many legends about it.

Chinese legend Indian legend

Chinese legend :-

A Chinese emperor always boiled water before drinking it. One day a few leaves of branches burning under the pot fell into the water. It gave a delicious flavour. These were tea leaves.

Indian legend:-

Bodhidharma, a Buddhist monk cut off his eyelids because he felt sleepy during meditations. Ten tea plants grew out of his eyelids. These leaves when put in hot water and drunk, banished sleep.

Tea and China :-Rajvir told Pranjol that tea was first drunk in China. It

was as far back as 2700 B.C. Words like ‘chai’ and ‘chini’ are Chinese. Tea came to Europe in the sixteenth century. It was drunk more as medicine.

Reaching the destination :-Both of them dropped at Mariani junction. They were

driven to Dhekibari Tea Estate. On both sides of the road there were acres and acres of tea bushes. Women with bamboo baskets were plucking the new leaves from them

TEA PLANTATION

ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS IN ABOUT 40 WORDS :-

Q.1 What did Pranjol told Rajvir about Assam?Ans.1 Pranjol told that Assam is heartland of tea

cultivation in India. It is their commercial crop. Assam has the largest concentration of plantations in the world. It exports tea to other countries in the world.

• Q.2 What is the Chinese legend about tea?Ans.2 A Chinese emperor liked to drink boiled water.

Once while boiling the water gave a delicious flavor. They were tea –leaves. Since then theses leaves are used as beverage.

• Q.3 Write down the Buddhist legend about tea.Ans3. Once a Buddhist ascetic was meditating. During

his deep meditation he fell asleep. The monk became furious on himself. He cut his eyelids and threw them on the ground. There grew ten tea plants. Their leaves can remove sleep.

• Q.4 How are the tea leaves collected in Assam?Ans.4 Tea leaves collection is a labour intensive work.

In Assam, this work is done by ladies. Ladies in groups carry bamboo baskets on their backs. They wear plastic aprons. They pluck tea leaves and collect them into their basket.