Our school had the distinct honour of hosting Dr. Preeti Gulati, Coordinator - History at Krea University, for a master class that transformed history from a subject of dates into a potent brew of global connections, power, and human endeavour.
Dr. Preeti began not with a timeline, but with a single commodity: tea. She invited the audience to consider how this simple leaf became a catalyst for empires, a currency for wealth, and a symbol of both luxury and rebellion.
The narrative unfolded like a steaming cup of tea, revealing its origin and the global spread as a culture. She explained how China once held the world's tea leaves—and its economy—in a tight fist. Dr. Gulati then masterfully detailed the West's audacious counter-move: using Indian-grown opium to breach Chinese markets, a dangerous trade that tipped the scales of power and flooded the subcontinent with poppies.
The session then explored how the British, through the East India Company, didn't just trade tea; they cultivated an empire on its back. Vast plantations reshaped landscapes and destinies, creating immense fortunes for a privileged few in London's trading houses. In a fascinating twist, Dr. Gulati explained how the same tea that built elite fortunes also became a rare, affordable luxury for the poor—a small comfort that sweetened the hardships of industrial life.
The story then crossed the Atlantic, where a different cultural taste—a preference for coffee—was brewing. Dr. Gulati connected the iconic Boston Tea Party not merely to taxation, but to a powerful act of rejecting a symbol of colonial control, showing how a nation's identity can be forged in its choice of beverage.
Finally, the discussion turned to the legacy, exploring how tea itself became a preferred form of currency over silver or gold—not only for its universal value but for its practical advantages: it was safer to transport and could be consumed for sustenance and comfort during long, arduous journeys, weaving a web of economic dependency across continents. The class concluded by reflecting on how the story of tea is permanently woven into the global map, from the demographics of Assam to the port cities of China.
The session was as lively as a bustling tea house. Dr. Gulati's master class served us the world in a cup of tea, demonstrating how the steam rising from a simple infusion carries the ghosts of empires, the struggles of millions, and the complex, bitter-sweet taste of our shared past.
