Tea partiers

In response to a prolonged demand by the North Eastern Tea Association,Ahluwalia said that for tea the time will come next April,to coincide with the 212th birth anniversary of the first Assamese tea planter Maniram Dewan. The majority of Indian households drink tea,he said. But then,it is not the same tea: it may be the delicate Darjeeling,the full-bodied Assam or the boisterous Nilgiri. Then theres the dressed-up tea: the fragrant kahwah. Tea has brimmed up in different avatars and it needs biscuits to go with it,if you insist scones,but not symbolism,not our predilection for grand pan-national gestures.

For,it isnt even everybodys cup of tea. Wake up and smell the filter coffee there are many who wait for a decoction of the Coorg in south India. Tea can imbue one with a false sense of certainty,but Ahluwalia should know that there is also a constituency for sattu in Bihar and lassi in Punjab. Do we need to stir the federalism pot further? Since there is so little agreement between the Centre and states these days,perhaps a chief ministers conference should be called for this and then Ahluwalia can read the tea leaves.