A tea ceremony and the Ohara school
It was my first experience with a Japanese tea ceremony here in Madras, and quite an event it was! Organised at the Japanese Consulate, it may have been sniffed at by the purists, but for us non-Japanese, it was a whiff of their culture, zen thought and philosophy. So much care, silence, the trickle of water, the appreciation of the tea cup, the deliberate cleaning of the serving cup and other implements.... All for a cup of tea you may ask? Its not the end that matters but the process I guess! Take a look at all the implements that were involved. We were told that the whisk (that you see in the foreground) is ceremonially consigned to the temple fire, once a year in a special ceremony. Then there's a cloth to wipe the ladle, another to wipe out the guests' cup...all in all very complicated! One must make the time to relax, meditate, and calm the mind before having the energising tea! Above is the container holding the cool water. This is poured deliberately into the boiler,...