MEMOIRS OF A TEA PLANTER

Gurpreet Singh

Published by TGIBT Press An Imprint of “The Great Indian Book Tour” www.tgibt.com 106/91, Ashok marg, Vijay path Mansarover, Jaipur, Rajasthan-302020 Phone : +91-72400-68114 email : [email protected] Title : Memoirs of a Tea Planter Author : Gurpreet Singh Copyright © Gurpreet Singh 2021 All rights reserved First published in 2021 First Edition 2021

ISBN : 978-81-949420-1-6

All rights reserved. No part of this book can be used, reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in articles or reviews.

Dedication To those years, the places, the characters and unnamed others who form part of this story, I dedicate this book. I hope it will give as much pleasure to my readers as I derived living those years in a world so full of the diversity that was to be the bedrock of my footloose style and experience.

About the Book This book is a sequel to a previous book by the author titled Roars & Trumpets and a result of the compliments and encouragement received from friends, acquaintances and many others to write about the remaining years and experience since then. In this book he tries to contrast the life during an earlier era when he joined Tea and later as the Professional Tea Planter in the changed environment. It would be unfair to ignore the transition that took place with the passage of time as the present generation of planters would want to know and contrast the past with the subsequent and the present. During the half century or so that he was associated with plantations, Tea saw the biggest change in its history. At the time when he joined, the Tea Plantations and Assam still had a hangover and glow from the days of the past with the same lifestyle which could be referred to as the golden era in the history of Tea. He had the privilege of living and working in places under circumstances which were unique and now not possible to repeat. Gurpreet Singh took on tasks and travelled to places where others refused to go. The travails, tribulations, adventure, adversity, triumphs and joys of that bygone age have a flavor that is unique and true. And a true story is always worth telling.

Acknowledgements To all those friends and ex Tea Planters settled abroad in Australia and Planters in our own country, both ex and serving who encouraged me to finish this second part of my story, to those unnamed friends and well wishers who have given me encouragement and support, to my granddaughter Harkiran Kaur for her help in typing, to Lt. Gen. Gurpartap Singh Dhillon (Retd.), for taking time from his busy schedule to read through this manuscript for any errors, to Sri H S Gujral, Principal Chief Conservator & Wildlife Warden, (Retd.) Punjab, for his suggestions and editorial help, to Harkiran Singh for the final push to get over my lethargy, I offer my grateful thanks from the depths of my heart. To all I shall remain deeply indebted.

CONTENTS 1. TIMONA 1



2. SINGLIJAN 25

3. HATTIALLI & MY SOUTH 53

AMERICAN SAJOURN

4. KHOWANG 103 5. WILDS OF CACHAR

149

6. TEA SONGS– PLANTERS’ LAMENT & OTHERS



185



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GLOSSARY

1

Timona

T

imona, division of Bokel Tea Estate in Dibrugarh District of Upper Assam was my first home in Jokai (ASSAM) Tea Co. Ltd. after l left Meleng Tea Estate when the latter was sold to the Birlas at the end of 1968. This District is in one of the best tea growing areas of Assam. Situated on the South bank of the Brahmaputra, the climate, land and topography left nothing to be desired. Timona was considered a tough but challenging billet with three divisions; Bokel Division, Baughpara Division and Timona Division on the banks of river Sessa where the bungalow was located. It comprised more than half the total area of a large Tea estate. It was my good fortune to be chosen for this posting after the successful planting I had carried out in Meleng in a much more difficult climate and produced best quality in the entire agency of Balmer Lawrie and Co. Ltd. in the years 1965 to 1968. I knew that if I managed to deliver results here at Timona, I would make headway in my career. So when I arrived after a long hard drive of many days with my wife and two small children from my long leave in Punjab at the beginning of February 1969, I was not only confident but looked forward to the challenge.

Timona Division which was the furthest from

Memoirs of a Tea Planter

2

Bokel main Division had only one bungalow situated on the banks of the river Sessa. One reached the division and the bungalow after crossing a narrow bridge that spanned the river. The location was most beautiful situated on the sight of an old chung bungalow. A small factory had existed close to the bungalow and which was there till WW II but which now had been removed to Bokel Tea Estate which was the main garden. The Superintendent, the Manager and factory assistant resided at Bokel. The factory had originally been built on the banks of the river Sessa as in the old days the convenience of dispatching teas by boat to the main Brahmaputra River was an important consideration. In the absence of a rail and road network, the teas were sent to Calcutta by barge. In the old days the original adventurers and planters had also arrived in this most remote part of Assam by river as the only means of communication was by river and the only transport was a boat or elephant. It was therefore necessary to have the establishment whether campsite, bungalow or factory by the side of a river. This establishment at Timona was one of the oldest and next to the Jokai Reserved Forest. The Company, Jokai (ASSAM) Tea Co. Ltd. took its name from here and the planting of the garden started from this point. There were two section of tea near the bungalow known as Jokai sections which came from the name of the Jokai Reserved Forest. The rest of the tea garden was located some distance away from the bungalow but along the banks of the river. On both banks of the river, was luxuriant jungle full of game and the river had the sweetest and tastiest fish in upper Assam. For me there could have been no better location than this. It was paradise on Earth; a hunter’s dream.

Timona

3

The present bungalow was a plinth bungalow with a suitably raised plinth, cement floor of marble chips, very neat and comfortable with a garage for parking the car and a nice lawn in front. We settled down in it in no time. My manager here, Roy Roulston, was a tough looking Irishman with a big heart and iron guts who liked to stand at the bar till early morning for whom I had worked earlier at Hattialli Tea Estate in 1962 and whom I knew well. He arrived one morning after we were settled to look us up and ask if we needed any further assistance but I think he also thought it would be a good opportunity to meet my wife and the two boys over a glass of beer and share a conversation. As I had got married after leaving Hattialli where we had been together, he had not met them. My wife and I were seated on the verandah and the children were playing on the floor when he arrived. He parked his jeep by the side of the porch, and strode across. “Well, well”, he said as he walked up to us with his out stretched hand for a hand shake. “I know Gurpreet well of course, but I haven’t met you or the kids, Mrs. Singh. Welcome to Bokel and Timona”. He strode up to my wife Manjit nick named Juju and shook her hand, looking at the boys. “Hello young men”, he said and sat down on the cane chair in front of us with a broad smile. “I had thought of visiting you earlier but then it occurred to me to first let you settle in and open up your luggage”. Then turning to my wife.