The Tea Pill

By Ieuan Dolby

Indian Scientists have developed a "tea pill"! Not a startling or mouth watering headline and not a 'great rush to the shops to buy some' attraction. What was interesting about this newspaper article was not so much the content or story line but the fact that I found this large spiel on the second page of my national newspaper. An article written by AFP to be subsequently published in many an international and national rag next to in-depth stories and hard hitting news on the Iraq War, on famine in Darfur and on the latest scandals to hit the financial world.

Having said all of that I must admit that I had just skipped over an ultra boring article that started with the headline "Prince Charles to.." but I got no further than that! So we now have a Tea Pill! A great invention of this century that took a four-member team from Assam many years to come up with! This team of highly paid experts, probably sponsored by a large drug company, work at the Tocklai Station in Jorhat. Set up in 1901 it is now the biggest facility for tea research in the world. Anyway, the 'tea pill' was invented after a lot of hard work, not an invention to equal that of the wheel nor that of the helicopter, but this article was there I suppose to tell the world about it.

"A Tea Pill"! A pill that can be carried in the pocket to be chewed when desired for the same refreshing effect as a freshly brewed cuppa.

It makes me wander why anybody would go to the effort of making a cup of tea ever again; I mean having to boil water and wait for the tea to steep is such a time consuming effort that nobody ever enjoyed anyway! Although, should one want to..this tea pill can still be used in the conventional manner by dipping the tablet in a cup of hot water! Phew, that's all right then, although now I feel sorry for the thousands of Japanese Tea Servers who have spent a life-time studying the art of fine tea making. Now it will be a one hour course! We are sure that the tea tablet will be able to freshen and cheer up a person with nearly the same effect as a having a cup of brewed tea. The next news item might be 'millions suffering from dehydration after popping tea pill' but maybe this won't make front page news!

Probably the worst bit about reading this article was that the author had missed, as had the scientists, the whole essence behind drinking a cup of tea. Tea is time out! Tea is escape and put your feet up time! Tea is a break from routine, from drudgery and life, tea is sipping quietly on a cold winter's day with the fingers wrapped around the warmth of a mug. Tea is friendly, a kindred spirit of togetherness for friends and family. My mum makes me a cup of tea when I return from my travels. My grandmother used to make me a cup of tea that the spoon would stand upright in! It is an overworked brain diffuser, a dustbin for woes and a pot of thoughts! Fortune tellers read leaves, the tea society brings together tea lovers, teapots, cups and saucers bring style and elegance the mug that of comfort and the known. These attributes to a simple cup of tea bear no resemblance to the act of popping a pill!

What will be next? A pill that is as fulfilling and as satisfying as a full blown steak dinner? Wow, give me one of them!

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