Chai Rasika Naraj
[Tea Connoisseur/Appreciation "Spice"]
Chai means "Tea",
Rasika means to be a connoisseur,
Naraj in Skora means, "spice".
You will need an Asian style teapot, a black tea – preferably Lapsang
Souchong a smoked tea, or some form of masala blend for the ritual.
The goal of the Chai Naraj is to reaffirm ones bond with one's comrades
well tasting the bitter/spicy tea. It is intended to enliven the
senses by savoring sweetness and spiciness. Arntiraas performed this
rite after freeing Mingh from his bondage from asceticism under the Rishaak
tree.
A suitable poem is spoken at the start of the rite to set the mood.
To begin boil water for the tea, after the poem is read place a strong
dose of tea in the pot, pour the hot water in allowing the tea to seep
in silence. The point here is STRONG tea.
As many as one chooses can take part in the rite.
Once the tea is brewed the host speaks his welcome sips the tea speaking
these words: "Sweet is the chai, it warms our blood. Strong is the
chai it sets our hearts, bitter is the tannin – the spice flames our tongue."
He or she then passes the tea to his right where the next person repeats
the phrase until it has returned to where it has started.
Next vows are taken and loyalty affirmed. Here as the tea is
sipped past feats are recalled and recited.
The Chai Naraj or a variant is used for a wedding/bonding rite as well
and the ceremony takes on a different meaning when conducted by a Tengu
and Valka. Infact even in a situation with a male-female even in
the most platonic of moments it is the male recognizing the fertility and
value of the Valka as hope for the species.
It should always be kept in mind that for each Falcanian involved the
Chai Naraj is an individual experience. It is a moment to recall
the coming out of slavery of devotion to faith as Mingh felt under the
Rishaak tree, it is the moment of bonding between tengu and valka, it is
loyalty between battlefield comrades.
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