Bonding over Tea

 During my research on tea traditions, I was very surprised to find out that tea is very often used a bonding medium between two strangers! This was surely the case in the novels for children! The inclusion of Tea in children’s novels is very interesting, it occurs very frequently, and that is quite strange as it as this was not a beverage for children!

The character of Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit, uses tea as a medium to bond with his guests, he warmly welcomes his guests and offers them 'to take tea, pray come and have some with me’. This scene is central in understanding the concept of tea! It clearly shows that tea is being used to make his guests feel homely, the warmth of the beverage could be used metaphorically to suggest a homely atmosphere.

Similarly, The Toad from The Wind In The Willows engaged with the gaoler’s daughter over tea… He ‘sipped his tea and munched his toast, and soon began talking freely about himself, and the house he lived in, […] The gaoler's daughter saw that the topic was doing him as much good as the tea, as indeed it was, and encouraged him to go on. Tell me about Toad Hall, said she. It sounds beautiful.’ In this example, we can see that tea is playing a role of being a calming agent, It is helping him relax and revive from his strange experiences that he has had before. Tea almost seems magical in this example, the more tea he has the more he is able to express himself.

Mary from The Secret Garden also bonded with Mrs. Medlock in the train, ‘Mrs. Medlock had bought a lunch basket […] and they had some chicken and cold beef and bread and butter and some tea.’ Tea and food are used in this example to show the magic of this beverage! It can remove the awkward boundaries between two people. It is a common beverage enjoyed my all. Hence it can build bridges and make social situations more comfortable. 

It interesting to see that this practice of sharing hospitality and tea derives from Japan! Helen Saberi writes how Japanese tea culture has seven important rules called the 'way of Tea' and the most interesting one out of them is 'showing the greatest attention to you guests', The Chinese culture also associates with people over tea! They have special 'teahouses' where they can go and drink Tea!

Sources: The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, The Wind In The Willows by Kenneth Grahame, The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett, Tea: a Global history by Helen Saberi