I. A Baker from Goa - Lucio Rodrigues
II. Coorg - Lokesh Abrol
III. Tea from Assam - Arup Kumar Datta
A rich old tradition, a breathtaking retreat, and origin stories of India's favorite beverage.
“Do you know that over eighty crore cups of tea are drunk every day throughout the world?”
Part I: A Baker from Goa – Lucio Rodrigues
Answer the following questions:
1) What are the elders in Goa nostalgic about?
The elders in Goa are nostalgic about their good old Portuguese days, the Portuguese and their famous loaves of bread.
2) Is bread making still popular in Goa? How do you know?
Yes, bread making is still popular in Goa. We know this as the makers of bread are still there in the society. Those age-old, time-tested furnaces still exist. Moreover, food made from bread is an integral part of their traditional celebrations.
3) What is the baker called?
The baker is called pader in Goa.
4) When would the baker come everyday? Why did the children run to meet him?
The baker would come twice a day. First in the morning when he set out to sell his products, and once again while returning after emptying his huge basket.
The children would run to meet him as they were crazy about bread-bangles, a sweet bread of special kind.
5) How can we say that bread products are an integral part of Goan traditional celebrations?
OR How important are the bakery products for the people of Goa?
Marriage gifts are meaningless without the sweet bread known as the bol.
Party or a feast loses its charm without bread.
The lady of the house prepares sandwiches on the occasion of her daughter’s engagement.
Cakes and bolinhas are must for Christmas and other festivals.
6) What did the bakers wear: (i) in the Portuguese days (ii) when the author was young?
They wore a dress known as the kabai. It was a single-piece long frock reaching down to the knees.
When the author was young, the bakers wore a shirt and trousers which were shorter than full-length and longer than half-pants.
7) Who invites the comment – “he is dressed like a pader”? Why?
Anyone who wears half-pants that reach just below the knees invite such a comment as this was the dress they used to wear when the author was young.
8) Where were the monthly accounts of the baker recorded?
The monthly accounts of the baker were recorded on some wall with a pencil.
9) What does a ‘jackfruit-like appearance’ mean?
It means the appearance of a person who is healthy and plump.
Part II: Coorg – Lokesh Abrol
Answer the following questions:
1) What is Coorg famous for?
Coorg is popular for its rainforest, its coffee estates and spices.
2) Where is Coorg?
Coorg is midway between Mysore and the coastal town of Mangalore in the state of Karnataka in South India.
3) What is the story about Kodavu people’s descent?
There are two stories about Kodavu people’s descent. One tells us about their Greek descent and the other tells us about their Arabic descent.
A part of Alexander’s army moved south along the coast and settled there when return became impractical. These people married amongst the locals and their culture is visible in the martial traditions, marriage and religious rites, which are different from Hindu mainstream.
The theory of Arabic origin is based on the long, black coat with an embroidered waist-belt worn by the Kodavus. The garment is known as kuppia, which resembles kuffia worn by the Arabs and the Kurds.
4) What are some of the things that you now know about
(i) the people of Coorg?
The people of Coorg are a proud race of martial men and beautiful women. They are known for their bravery. The Coorg Regiment is one of the most decorated regiments in the Indian Army. Every home welcomes you with their hospitality, and every home has a story of courage about their members.
(ii) the main crop of Coorg?
The main crop of Coorg is coffee. It is quite popular for its coffee estates.
(iii) the sports it offers to tourists?
It offers several adventure sports for tourists including river rafting, canoeing, rappelling, rock climbing and mountain biking.
(iv) the animals you are likely to see in Coorg?
Coorg is home to a vast flora and fauna. One is likely to see a rich wildlife there. There are birds, bees and butterflies. Macaques, Malabar squirrels, langurs, loris and wild elephants are there too.
(v) its distance from Bangalore, and how to get there?
First of all, you can reach Bangalore by air, by rail or by road. After that, you have to go by road to Coorg. By road, Coorg is about 250-260 km away from Bangalore. There are two routes to take from.
Part III: Tea from Assam – Arup Kumar Datta
Answer the following questions:
1) What are the two legends about the discovery of tea?
There was this Chinese emperor who always boiled water before drinking it. One day, a few leaves of the twigs burning under the pot fell into the water giving it a delicious flavor. It is said they were tea leaves.
There is an Indian legend too. Bodhidharma, an ancient Buddhist ascetic, cut off his eyelids because he felt sleepy during meditations. Ten tea plants grew out of the eyelids. The leaves of these plants when put in hot water and drunk banished sleep.
2) Where were Rajvir and Pranjol going? Why? What similarities and differences do you notice in both of them?
Rajvir and Pranjol are classmates at school in Delhi. Both of them were going to Assam to visit tea gardens. Prajol's father had a tea estate, and they had planned to visit there during the summer vacation.
Both of them loved reading detective novels. From their conversation regarding the origin of tea, it appears that they were curious too.
However, the difference that we notice is that Pranjol was not too excited about the beautiful scenery outside when they were crossing green fields. He had been born and brought up on tea plantation estates, and therefore he was not keen on looking outside. On the other hand, Rajvir was excited as he had not seen so much greenery before.
3) Rajvir did his homework well before visiting the tea-gardens. Comment.
Rajvir was highly keen about visiting the tea-gardens. He had done a lot of research and study about the origin of tea, seasons of tea plantations, and some of the statistics.
He shared the two origin stories with Pranjol. Later, when they reached the tea-garden of Pranjol's father, he accurately spoke of the second-flush or sprouting period of tea that lasts from May to June, and yields the best tea.
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