Can Coffee and Tea Coexist in a Bangladeshi Household?
Walk into a Bangladeshi home around seven in the morning and you already know what you will find. Someone is boiling water. Someone is looking for the tea leaves. Someone asks, “Cha hoyeche?” A few minutes later the kitchen smells of strong tea, milk and sugar. The first cup is poured. Maybe there is paratha. Maybe biscuits. Maybe everyone is still half-asleep. Tea does not need an introduction here. It simply belongs. Yet on the same kitchen shelf another object is appearing more often: a jar of coffee. Sometimes instant. Sometimes ground coffee brought home from a café. Sometimes a small bag of beans because someone in the family has started brewing. So the question arises: Can coffee and tea actually coexist inside an ordinary Bangladeshi household not in a café or among enthusiasts, but where cha is almost a cultural reflex? Yes. And the interesting part is why. Tea is bigger than a drink Tea in Bangladesh is habit, hospitality, conversation, work, boredom, friendship and adda. A c...
