The Face of Doyang

Alan Lane                                                      

I was a Crossley engineer in Assam during the mid-1960s, and one of the gardens where I regularly carried out overhauls of the Crossley engine was at Doyang TE, which at that time was managed by Octavius Steel in Calcutta.

I initially stayed at Doyang TE with the Manager (Mr A C Gohain) in 1965 at the burra-bungalow, and this was at the time of the ‘war’ with Pakistan.

At that time, whilst staying with Mr Gohain, we used to go out in the evening, after ‘kamjari’(work) for a trip around the garden looking for jungle-moorgis or Kalij pheasants to shoot for the ‘pot’. Doyang was a rather ‘jungli’ garden at that time, with loads of wild pigs, and the leopards and tigers that preyed upon them.

Because of the ‘war’ the Assam Tribune newspaper had headlined that Pakistan had dropped by parachute ‘gorillas’ (instead of guerrillas) and so we would also keep a look out for the hairy beasts. Mr Gohain’s 12 bore shotgun would not have been much use against them I am afraid!

There was no electricity at the bungalow in the evenings during 1965, as all the lighting was done by Petromax lamps. The ones in the lounge and dining rooms were on counterbalanced chains from the ceiling, so that you pulled the lamp down, pumped up the base after having first lit the methylated spirits in the bowl around the mantle. After the flame took hold and the mantle started to hiss and glow you pushed the lamp up from the base and it would hang in whichever position you wanted it to be at.

One night, at around 4am, I woke up feeling goose pimples and saw a hideous face looking down at me. I swung my fist at it, but there was nothing there. Unfortunately that put me off trying to sleep again, and when Mr Gohain saw me at ‘palang ka chai’ time (early morning tea in the bedroom) I mentioned this to him. He told me that a planter from many years before, had hung himself in that room and other visitors had reported the same thing as I had seen. Needless to say, I never stayed at that bungalow ever again! I made sure that I stayed at either Jamguri TE or the Golaghat Club for subsequent visits.

 Later, I learnt that the Manager had not committed suicide but had been beaten to death in the bungalow by the garden labour – thus the damaged face that I saw!

Doyang Burra Bungalow

 

Is this your first visit here? Welcome to Indian Chai Stories!
Do you have a chai story of your own to share? Send it to me here, please : indianchaistories@gmail.com. 
My name is Gowri Mohanakrishnan and I'm a tea planter's wife. I started this blog because one of the things that I wouldn't want us to lose in a fast changing world is the tea story - a story always told with great seriousness, no matter how funny - always true (always), maybe a tall tale, long, or short, impossible, scary, funny or exciting but never dull.
You will find yourself transported to another world! Happy reading!
Cheers to the spirit of Indian Tea!
Meet the writer:

Alan Lane, a 'cha ka baba', was born in Bombay. His contribution to Indian Chai Stories goes beyond the written word: he keeps a large number of people all over the world connected with their roots in India. In his own words, 'My wife and I still have lots of connections with India and we are, as you may well say, ‘Indophiles’.' Alan and Jackie Lane live in the UK; they left India a little over fifty years ago. Read the story of this cha ka baba's return to the tea gardens of Assam as a Crossley engineer here: Indian Chai Histories.  You will find more stories by Alan here. 

Anecdotes of the Maskeliya/Upcot District

Devaka Wickramasuriya
 
Tea Fields in the district with Adams Peak in the background
 
Planters are a unique breed in whatever part of the world they are in, and there are numerous anecdotes of their life on the plantations.  Therefore, having been a Sri Lankan Tea Planter for 40 years, I wish to share some of these anecdotes, all of which are from the period when I was on plantations in the Maskeliya/Upcot District in Sri Lanka.

The tea plantations in the district, which are rated to be among the finest in the world, are in the shadow of the famed Adams Peak.  The peak is a 2,243 m tall conical mountain located in central Sri Lanka. It is well known for the "sacred footprint", a 1.8 m rock formation near the summit, which in Buddhist tradition is regarded as the footprint of the Buddha, in Hindu tradition that of Shiva and in Islamic and Christian tradition that of Adam.

My time in the district was from 1977 to 1984 and I had the distinct privilege of serving as an Assistant Manager and thereafter a Senior Assistant Manager (“Sinna Dorai” in Tamil which in English is “Small Master”) on two of the better estates in the district namely Moray and Brunswick Estates. I recall the days in the district being the finest in my planting career and being a bachelor, did not have the restrictions that would normally have been imposed if there had been a wife around!   

My initial posting in the district was to Moray Estate.  The Manager (“Periya Dorai” in Tamil which is “Big Master”) was Conrad Abeysekera and the other Assistant Manager on the estate was Fred Amarasinghe.  Both Mr. Abeysekera and his wife were truly wonderful people and treated both Fred and I with much kindness.
Salaries were not too good at the time and after paying your Club and Kadday (the estate grocery store) bills there was not much left. Around the 3rd week of the month both Fred and I would compare our financial situations and find that we were down to “salmon” or “eggs” with funds not even permitting the purchase of any meats or even a bottle of the spirit that cheers. Mr. Abeysekera had a very fixed programme; he left office sharp at 4.30 p.m., read the newspapers and after a bath was ready to take on the evening by 7.00 p.m.

Fred and I knowing this gentleman’s hospitality and his kindness, when things were really bad financially, used to “drop in” at his Bungalow around 7.00 p.m. His stock question to us was “any problem” and after we had assured him that there was none, he used to invite us in and before much time had lapsed we had glasses in our hands and were soon well on the way to spending a good evening which always ended with a sumptuous dinner. On finding that Mr. Abeysekera was serving us Scotch Whisky (something we could not afford to drink at that time) while he was drinking Sri Lankan distilled Coconut Arrack, which was his choice of drink, I asked him as to why he was serving us Scotch when he very well knew that we drank Arrack. His reply was, “then who is going to finish the hampers I got”. Therefore, Fred and I consoled ourselves that our unannounced visits to Mr. Abeysekera’s Bungalow were beneficial to him as well!

There was a wonderful Club in the district - The Maskeliya Club - created in 1889 - which was functioning extremely well. Both Fred and I were active members and used to visit the Club (almost 12 miles away) at least three times a week. Mr. Abeysekera however did not visit the Club very often but supported all its activities. A story that comes to mind was one during the time of the Club’s Monsoon Dance in 1978 when Mrs. Abeysekera had been asked to prepare two whole Fish in some form or the other as a part of the Supper that was to be laid out. This having being done, they were handed over to me to be taken over to the Club in Mr. Abeysekera’s car which was released to Fred and me for the night. We were taking a Clerk from Moray to help at the Bar and he was tasked with keeping the two large dishes containing the two whole fish on his lap.

Approaching Maskeliya Town there was a shout from this Clerk – “Sir, Sir, please stop the Car”. On doing so and asking him what the trouble was, his reply was “Sir, this fish knocked that fish and that fish’s head has come off”! Running repairs were immediately done on the damaged fish even after which it resembled one that had been strangled as we were just not able to get its head straight. The two fish were duly handed over to the Lady Convenor of the Club, who after inspecting them, looked at us in a suspicious manner but probably due to the look of absolute innocence displayed on both Fred’s and my faces, fortunately did not make any comment.

My next estate was Brunswick which was a “jewel” and consisted of six Divisions - Brunswick, Bloomfield, Dunottar, Emelina, Mottingham and Caskieben. Mr. Manilal Abeyawardena was Manager and as on Moray Estate, he and his wife Srima were indeed wonderful people.

My first “field visit” with Mr. Abeyawardena was a visit to Field No: 1 C of Bloomfield Division which was being tipped after pruning. Mr. Abeyawardena having found that the tipping done was low is certain sections was furious. At this time the Field Officer of Bloomfield Division unfortunately came up to where we were and Mr. Abeyawardena on seeing him reprimanded him saying “Jiffrey look at this bloody tipping. You are only fit to be a spare p…k on a honeymoon”. Jiffrey obviously not quite understanding at that time what had been told to him replied “Yes Sir - I will get it rectified” after which Mr. Abeyawardena and I proceeded on the rest of our field visit.

That afternoon, after the effect of what Mr. Abeyawardena had dawned on him, Jiffrey was at my Bungalow, with his letter of resignation, to tell me that he had never been insulted so badly in his life before. I was able to convince Jiffrey that Mr. Abeyawardena would never have meant what he said and that it was purely due to the bad work that he had lost his temper. Jiffrey after some persuasion fortunately accepted what I told him and the matter ended there.

As the Maskeliya Club was located on Brunswick Estate, it was natural that I had to accept office at the Club and was therefore elected its Secretary.  The Club’s Annual Monsoon Dance was soon upon us and as Secretary and being the closest to the Club, much of the work connected with the dance was entrusted to me. One of the duties entrusted to me was the responsibility of picking up the Cabaret artiste from the Hatton Railway Station and accommodating her in my Bungalow, in all probability due to it being the closest to the Club and for no other conceivable reason! The Cabaret artiste was chaperoned by her mother and another gentleman who claimed to be her “Uncle”. After having refreshed themselves at my Bungalow, I took them over to the Club and deposited them in the Club’s Billiard Room until it was time for her to perform.

Needless to say, being the good host that I was, I frequently checked on how she was doing and provided her with ample “refreshments” in the hope that this would enhance her performance! A very senior Manager of the district, who had consumed quite a few drinks by that time, observing my frequent visits to the Billiard Room, asked me why I was doing so and I had no alternative but to reluctantly tell him that it was due to the Cabaret artiste being there. On hearing this he walked into the Billiard Room with me following and having inspected her asked me “Devaka, as she is anyway going to perform in a short time, would she be willing to do a private performance for me now if I pay her something”. The Cabaret artiste and her mother both took umbrage at this and I had a phenomenal task in preventing them from leaving. The Manager who caused the rumpus fled “the scene of the crime” leaving me to resolve the problem on my own, which I was fortunately successful in doing.

A new Assistant Manager - Seevali Mudannnayake -  who was immediately after his training arrived on Brunswick and Mr. Abeyawardena and I decided to take him down to the Maskeliya Club to “break him in” and instil into him “Brunswick traditions”. Many others too were present at the Club and a thoroughly enjoyable evening was in progress. Mr. Abeyawardena after some time insisted that Seevali, being the youngest amongst us, pours his drinks and called out to Seevali “Seevali, one finger Arrack topped up with Soda”. Seevali duly obliged and when the glass was handed back to Mr. Abeyawardena and he had taken a sip, there was a shout from him “Seevali don’t you even know what one finger is”. Seevali’s reply was “Yes Sir, one finger” with his finger extended upwards!

My final anecdote is of another Assistant Manager in the district who I will not name.  All Assistant Managers were provided with Motor Cycles and this particular Assistant Manager prided himself on having an excellent knowledge of Motor Cycles.  The time came when his Motor Cycle had to be overhauled and despite his Manager advising him that he should send it to a proper repair shop, he refused and decided to attend to the overhaul on his own.  The news spread around the district like wildfire as no Planter had previously attended an overhaul of this magnitude on his own.  We were all informed when the repair was completed and invited to witness the machine being started and brought back to life.  An auspicious time was found from the local astrologer and at the appointed time, watched by most of the Assistant Managers in the district as well as his beloved wife, our friend “kick started” the machine which immediately burst into life.  We were all amazed at his ability but this amazement immediately turned to shock followed by peals of laughter as when the machine was put into gear, it went backwards!!!!

Of the characters mentioned in my story, Conrad Abeysekera and Fred Amarasinghe have left this world, Manilal Abeyawardena and I live a life of retirement in Colombo while Seevali Mudannayake is Manager of Strathspey Estate, one of the largest properties in the Maskeliya / Upcot. 

Devaka Wickramasuriya has worked on some of the best tea plantations in Sri Lanka. During this time, besides being a conscientious worker, he was actively involved in the social life normally associated with a planter and has served on the Committees of many plantation district clubs and associations. 

He also continued with his school day passion of Rugby and Captained his district Rugby Club and was also selected to be a member of the Up-Country Rugby team. He also served as Deputy President of the Ceylon Planters Society as well as held the post of General Manager – Plantations of Carsons Agro Services Limited, a company that was selected to manage plantations in the 1st stage of privatization of estates in Sri Lanka. His last post in the plantation industry was as Chairman of Elkaduwa Plantations Limited, a state-owned and managed Regional Plantation Company. 

Is this your first visit here? Welcome to Indian Chai Stories! 
Do you have a chai story of your own to share? Send it to me here, please:  indianchaistories@gmail.com. 

 

My name is Gowri Mohanakrishnan and I'm a tea planter's wife. I started this blog because one of the things that I wouldn't want us to lose in a fast changing world is the tea story - a story always told with great seriousness, no matter how funny - always true (always), maybe a tall tale, long, short, impossible, scary, funny or exciting but never dull. You will find yourself transported to another world! 
 
Happy reading! Cheers to the spirit of Indian Tea!
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