aaaah chai, tea, cha, even tea latte...so many names and so many forms but completely essential to the existence of civilization. But for this tea, we would all want to kill the person who drones on in front of us or turn the frenzy on ourselves! Tea allows us the comfortable, slurpy silence. It makes the inanity of social banter bearable, even pleasurable. The bengalis have made tea drinking and conversation almost ritualistic. "Adda" is synonymous with penurious surroundings and the completely disjunctive, highly intellectual exchange of ideas. Where would Alexander Pope's world of intricate faux pas and delicate morals be without the ornate china tea sets to give it a beautiful center? In fact, one can tell that a person has completely given up the desire for any human company when s/he gives up drinking tea!