Tea isn’t a beverage. Tea is an emotion.
To all passionate tea lovers out there who might be travelling with Indian Railways, your day is about to get a whole lot better. The Indian railways is getting back the beloved kulhads after a long gap of 15 years!
To anyone who doesn’t know what a kulhad is: a kulhad is an earthen pot and a 100 percent biodegradable, economical and much cheaper than glass or plastic.
If you’ve ever drank tea out of a kulhad, you’ll be able to differentiate the taste of your tea from how it tastes in the clay pot vis-a-vis a regular glasses or plastic cups, very clearly. The kulhad enhances the flavour and aroma of the tea significantly and keeps it warmer for a much longer time.
This is great for the domestic market because it won’t just give the travellers a more authentic tea-drinking experience but also provide employment to local potters who are struggling due to the competition faced by machine-produced goods.
Former Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav introduced the humble kulhad as a means to uplift the pottery industry and also acquaint the passengers with something truly desi.
A circular has been issued by the board to the chief commercial managers of Northern and North eastern railways. It states:
Following this, current railways minister Piyush Goyal has instructed caterers at Varanasi and Rae Bareli stations to use terracotta-made “kulhads”, glasses and plates. Passengers will be served not just tea in kulhads but lassi and other food items will also be served in cutlery made entirely by clay.Indian railways circular
Chairman of Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC), VK Saxena, told PTI how they've provided potters with electric wheels, which allow them to make from 100 cups to around 600 cups a day.
This sounds like a great win for the environment and for the domestic potter community. Good on you Indian railways!
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)