U ntil summer 2010, the East India Company occupied one’s thoughts only when matters of historical foreign trade and the colorful story of tea, spices, jewels, and silks were being discussed.
Walk along Conduit Street in London’s West End today, and you will find yourself gazing admiringly into the sumptuous interior of a store that brings both the name and the tempting oriental products vividly back to life. Step inside, and you will find yourself surrounded by luxury teas, coffees, chocolates, jams, cordials, mustards, cookies, spices, and porcelains. The ambiance is a fusion of Georgian elegance and the intense colors, textures, tastes, and smells of the East.
The name East India Company has, over the years, provoked very different attitudes and reactions in countries around the world. For the British,…
