The Gracious Hostess

by Sarita Dasgupta

 The Burra Memsaab: The Burra memsaab in the picture is the author's mother, Manjusha Das Gupta, who grew up as a 'cha ka baby'!
The hospitality of the tea planter and his wife is legendary. Any guest, friend or stranger, is treated like royalty. More often than not, the ‘Company Guests’ that one has to entertain arrive as total strangers and depart as friends. The lady of the house looks into each and every detail, no matter how small, relating to the comfort of the guest.  It’s not always easy, but regardless of the problems she may face, the guest will only see a gracious hostess.

Breakfast with guests

During my husband’s first ‘Acting’, I was 26 years old! We had the VA (Visiting Advisor) and a Director from London visiting the estate and having lunch. Fortunately, lunch went off well, although I was so nervous that I barely ate a morsel. Untying my tangled vocal chords, I managed to converse coherently and even shared a joke about the old school tie! (Imagine, I still remember that after all these years!!)

Cold weather breakfast on the lawn

On one occasion, we were expecting an overnight guest from England. Since he was due to arrive at around 2PM, I thought it prudent to serve a Continental meal so that except for the soup and the main dish, the rest (salads etc) could be served cold, thus saving time. Imagine my consternation when not one, but two gentlemen arrived – the unexpected visitor being vegetarian to boot! My husband and I looked at each other askance but welcomed them both warmly although my mind was working overtime trying to figure out what to serve the vegetarian gentleman in the way of soup and a main dish! It didn’t help that my husband muttered “fifteen minutes” meaning the amount of time I had to serve lunch! I managed somehow and till today, I don’t think the second gentleman knows that we were not expecting him that day… I made up for the hastily slapped up meal by serving him a sumptuous feast the next time he visited!

 

An elderly gentleman, whom we had never met before, arrived one Sunday afternoon, said he didn’t want lunch, informed me that he was a “strict vegetarian”, went into his room and showed no signs of coming out of it! Rather worried, I eventually sent the Bearer at around 5PM to find out if he was all right and wanted some tea.  The message came back that he didn’t want tea but would like an early dinner. So, a strictly vegetarian meal was prepared and served at 8PM. In the course of conversation at lunch the next day, he mentioned that his sons and their respective families lived with him and his wife, and that at every meal there had to be two or three kinds of non-vegetarian dishes to suit every individual’s taste.  Then he casually added that he also partook of the non-vegetarian dishes! Taken aback, I blurted, “I thought you were strictly vegetarian!” To which he replied that he ate non-vegetarian dishes if offered! I’m still trying to figure out this ‘logic’!

On another occasion, two guests stayed with us for about three days. The younger of the two did not utter a single word to me from the time my husband introduced me to them (which he ‘acknowledged’ by turning his head away) till the last evening. All that time, I thought the poor young man was ‘verbally challenged’ so one can imagine my astonishment when he suddenly spoke that last evening! His elder colleague had wanted to watch a programme on television so we had switched it on. When an advertisement for a very expensive brand of shoes came on, the so-far silent young man suddenly piped up wondering aloud whether the shoes were to be worn on the feet or on the head, and then clammed up again. I wondered whether I was standing on my feet or on my head!! When he uttered those words, I actually looked around “with a wild surmise” to see who had spoken! Seeing my astonishment, his older colleague explained in an aside that the young man’s mother had told him not to talk to ‘girls’ when he was away on work-related trips. Perhaps I should’ve taken that as a compliment as I was in my 30s then, married and a mother. I glanced at the young man (who was hardly a dire threat to any girl’s self-control, except, perhaps, in the fond eyes of his mother), nodded understandingly and hastily made an excuse to leave the room so that I could give in to the laughter which had been threatening to erupt!

On the tea estates, we have to rely on the staff not only to maintain the large bungalows which are a legacy from the past, but also to look after the official guests according to certain standards. One is fortunate if one has a good set of staff otherwise, each ‘visitation’ can be an ordeal! Here is my poem that says it all!

THE TRIALS OF A TEA MEMSAHAB

A Visitor is coming,

And wouldn’t you just guess?

That very day, my kitchen

Is in a total mess!

My Cook, the ‘prima donna’

Throws a tantrum in the kitchen

Because, he claims, the Paniwallah

Just won’t listen!

Before this reaches ‘crisis point’

I smooth ruffled feathers

Only to find, my Burra Bearer is

Feeling ‘under the weather’.

The doctor gives him medicine,

To ease the pain from gout

But where’s the second Bearer?

Drunk as a skunk, no doubt!

The Jharuwallah? He’s absent,

His wife has run away.

One can’t blame the poor woman

But did she have to choose today?

I somehow manage at last,

To hold my ‘ship’ steady;

I check the smallest details

And, satisfied, am ready.

The Visitor meets his hostess

Who is gracious and serene,

Showing not an inkling of

What she’s been through in between!

The ever smiling planter and his wife are the perfect host and hostess!

        

Meet the writer: Sarita Dasgupta

Sarita enjoying a warm cup of Kawakawa tea in New Zealand. 

Read about it here

 

"As a ‘chai ka baby’ (and grandbaby!) and then a ‘chai ka memsahab’, I sometimes wonder if I have tea running through my veins! 

I have been writing for as long as can remember – not only my reminiscences about life in ‘tea’ but also skits, plays, and short stories. My plays and musicals have been performed by school children in Guwahati, Kolkata and Pune, and my first collection of short stories for children, called Feathered Friends, was published by Amazing Reads (India Book Distributors) in 2016. My Rainbow Reader series of English text books and work books have been selected as the prescribed text for Classes I to IV by the Meghalaya Board of School Education for the 2018-2019 academic session, and I have now started writing another series for the same publisher.

More stories by Sarita here : https://teastorytellers.blogspot.com/search/label/Sarita%20Dasgupta

 

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!
ADD THIS LINK TO YOUR FAVOURITES : 

https://teastorytellers.blogspot.com/