Tea Life

https://sites.google.com/site/teabiography/ by Niraj Mani Chourasia

I am working in Tea Garden from past one year and two months. I joined Tea Garden through campus placement and I had no idea, how Tea garden Life is.. During my interview visit to Tea Gardens, although I got familiar with Life Style and working in Tea Garden. But that was all luxurious in initial period of time for me, with servants serving you at one sound, cook with skills of preparing delicious foods. You shoes are in front of you for your convenience, Mali to keep your lawn beautiful and landscape filled with contrast color flower shooting to your mood. At Garden, workers with respect listening to the words of Executive. While Executive is moving in the Garden, in due time workers getting off their cycles to show their respect. After all these were lavishly tenure to observe, I started dreaming a wow!!! Life like this. If selected it was not a bad deal for me. This is what I observed at my initial days during interview.

Finally , A Happy moment came into my life, when i got call for my joining. I was too excited to join and start living like a King.

Finally I was asked to join Deamoolie Tea Estate, in Doom Doma Circle, a high yielding upper Assam region with less pest infestation. I got warm Welcome from my receiver at Railway Station, started off to new garden, I still remember the beautiful entrance with green carpet like tea bushes to the Garden, I must say for time being i was in heaven.

I went to Bungalow of Asst. Manager, again a wow!! Bungalow, nicely decorated and maintained with mind blowing landscape.

From next day , I started off my work.

My Bungalow, where I have lived for 4 Months.

Drawing Room of the Bungalow

Now coming to the main fields and working structure at Tea Garden is entirely different. Through out your day you have to deal with Staffs and Illiterate workers. Daily new cases arise and one need to settled it down.

You need to win heart and faith of the workers, then only they will respect you and listen to you.

I am sharing some of experiences I have at the Tea Garden, Which I will never forget.

1. Bitch hunt, In a week almost 5 people died and spite of Doctors confirmation that cause of death was health problem, mass of workers stand up and put finger on a family having brother and sister , Sister husband and his child. He was residing in one of the Line quarters of Tea Garden. They were taken out from their house and Balded off, then peoples were proceeding to field to burn them alive. This incidence I saw with my eyes, but was helpless since, almost 15 Army man were not able to control the aggressive crowd. Then Black Commandos and Additional SP and more than 150 Army personnel arrived to the Estate to stop the incident. Finally they rescued them and sent them to safe place. For more than a week workers were unhappy with their defeat and many meetings were organised by officials to pass the message that their is no bitch hunt in our society , its just a vague believe. But all were failure, slowly they forgot this incidence and everything was normal at Estate.
2. Beating a Butcher to death, two brothers were caught red- handed while cutting cows in the Garden, sections and the owner sons and public beaten them up for whole night in cold. They used different way of beating and at last, in severe cold they were left outside , tiding their hand and leg. Till morning one didn't resisted the pain and died next morning, but other after police interference sent to the Hospital and got his new life.
3. Green Leaf Theft at Night - A dangerous and risky operation to be handled, because thief come with real planning,they comes in number more than 50 and keep First Add for any causalities, they keep big sword for their safety, a messenger at the top of tree. Generally they do green leaf theft at night with mass number and use torch for proper view, they get drink for fast and fearless work. They know all drain ways better than Assistants to hide. In some cases they bring bombs to create fear. I went along with Police at night 1:00 Am to garden sections where, present garden security were helpless due to out number of thief's . Police did some rubber firing and along with garden security with shouted to send them back. But even police afraid by their planing.
4. At other side, day time thief was common and whole family come to take away green leaf, from 2 year old child to 60 Year old. With proper security motivation and police involvement it was reduced.
5. One Line Chawkidar son flee with a girl and at evening almost 70- 80 peoples came to my office to settled down the problem, slight error in handling may cause a big trouble to the Estate and even handler. Case was handled nicely and slowly after some time, it was settled down.
6. Fire- wood theft and its action to the workers reversed on me. Any how later on it was settled down. Although during firewood distribution, we faced lots of problem.

There are many more to share but i don't want to make this article boring.

My timing for work start at 6:00 Am and at 9:00 Am , I usually go for breakfast and afternoon 2:00 to 3:00 PM lunch, evening till 7:00 PM main office then from 7:00 PM to 11:00 PM Factory. I don't think some one will like to work this much hours a day but really after experience you will feel bad without work in the Garden, You also get opportunity to enjoy in the club and other activities. In Garden their is no Sunday as a Fun day, most of the time you get work to do..

Thank you for reading..

There are lots to explore in Tea, You start your day with problems but at the end of the day, you also get solutions.

Working in Tea is like doing adventure daily.