Tea: Legend, Life and Livelihood of India GENERATE GOODWILL
Elizabeth Knight
Writer of "Tea With Friends" & "Tea in the City",New York,USA
September 2006"This well-designed, entertaining, and informative book deserves a place on every tea lover's book shelf. The photos are spectacular; the next best thing to actually standing in an Indian tea garden. The charming story of Mr. Bowles' return to Assam, and his visit to Charles Alexander Bruce's grave, to tell the pioneer about the continuing story of tea, around the world, is worth the price alone."
The Hindu
Sunday, Oct 01, 2006 Review by RANJITA BISWAS
"Tea anytime"-A coffee table book on the story of tea in India.
Tea: Legend, Life and Livelihood of India; Gautam Prasad Baroowah; Red
River Publications, Rs. 2,000
INDIA and tea are so intertwined together that life without the brew is
unimaginable, even taking into account coffee's popularity in the
southern peninsula.
And to think that tea entered our life only in the mid-19th century when
the British colonists started plantations in Assam and Darjeeling! In
the beginning though, Indians shunned the drink as they thought it was a
poison that led to umpteen diseases.
Ironically, tea colonised Britain whose afternoon tea ritual became a
part of their social diary and also led to establishment of numerous
teahouses in England and elsewhere. Some well-known hotels in London
even launched tea dances; some of them have now revived the custom,
which petered off during the war years.
Gautam Prasad Baroowah's lavishly mounted coffee table (or is that
`tea-table'?) book, Tea: Legend, Life and Livelihood of India, is the
latest entrée to this club. What makes the book interesting and
different is the adoption of a somewhat fictional style, weaving in a
character into the narration to tell the story of tea in our country.
Amazon.com
-Customer Review, October 14, 2006Review by RAJEN BARUA "Oxom Bondhu" (Houston, Texas)
" A Must for Every Tea Lover"
Tea - Legend, Life and Livelihood of India is a story of dedication and evolving culture. This is a multi-dimensional look at one of India's most successful industries. Carrying a message of good-will with a bold perspective, the book is conceived and written by a leading steward and insider to the trade. The seven narrative chapters--Discovering Tea, Tea is Forever, Flavour and Taste, Indian Tea - Partners in Progress, A Colourful Life and Culture, A Health Drink and The Future--cover the triumphs and tribulations of the trade since its inception as a commercial enterprise in Assam in the mid 1800's.
hree things make this book unique and stand out from the lot; the content which is 'well researched' and yet fluid and written in poetic language by the Assamese poet Gautam Prasad Baroowah; non-fiction mixed with fiction and poetry; and stunning photography (by Dushyant Parasher) of various scenes from life in tea garden. If you want to have a mystic feeling of yourself standing on the remote Upper Assam country road looking at the fresh greenary of a tea garden on a foggy January morning when the near distant scene is half covered with fog, you should this book.
The Hindustan Times
March 2006"The well-designed book with captivating photographs to supplement it is a well researched story of the bud and two leaves...this book is sure to attract the attention of producers, buyers, sellers, brokering houses and last but not the least, the government, as his (Baroowah's) recommendations are subtle and authoritative: a very powerful combination."
