Club Evenings with Burra Saab

by Dhiraj Kumar Barman

It was the late eighties. There was no fear of the unknown, and travelling at night with family was no cause for concern. After Saturday kamjari, we travelled long distances because of dinner invitations or to other planters' clubs and we returned late on Sunday night.

Burra Saab, with his heart of gold, always insisted that his Assistants with their "Chhota Memsaabs" attend the club. Tea companies were generous in providing a portion of club subscription for their executives, hence the insistence. The bachelor assistants always looked for opportunities to move out on their motorcycles to far flung places with permission for the night out.

It was also a must for all executives to attend the club for games on Wednesday afternoon, depending upon what you played...some seniors on the golf course and the rest were either on the tennis courts or engaged in gossip with a glass of beer.  Interested ones were seen near the swimming pool.

Burra Saab was very fond of attending club evenings, and always looked forward to Saturdays. The club programme was discussed in the "kamjari office" on Saturday morning itself.

"I shall pick you up at 7.30 p.m. sharp", Burra Saab insisted - all to be ready by then.

Due to the distant location of the club and kutcha roads, Burra Saab volunteered to pick up his Assistants and their wives in his newly acquired four wheeled Peugeot jeep.

All the men in formals and the ladies in their Sunday best would wait for the Burra Saab’s new self-driven jeep to arrive. Two to three assistant managers were squeezed  in the front seat.  The ladies at the back covering their head with "chunni” reached the club after an hour's bumpy ride on kutcha and dusty roads.

And at the club :

The Burra Saab leaves all his assistants to mingle with other "Burras" to discuss the next agenda of the Circle Meeting...problem of telephones, erratic supply of grid, poor quality of rations, etc. etc.

"Bearer....Ghurao..." and the fellow behind the bar happily pouring large ones for the group of five to six "Burras" but never forgets to present the "club chit" for  Burras  to sign. The smart Club Bearer, at times manages, a peg or two to be gulped behind the bar.

The Assistant Managers have their own group of friends discussing tea, tea and only tea. The ladies, grossly disgusted by their gents talking shop, chat about the latest movie releases in town cinema halls, dresses, mali bari, buying cut glass etc. - The topics end in no time and somehow they pass time and wait for their husbands to finish.

Since we all came together in Burra Saab’s jeep, all had to wait for him to finish.  Assistants noticing  Burra Saab still carrying on,  ask the bar tender for a small one to pass the time.  The ladies keep their posture intact... yawn... as the clock strikes 2.00 a.m. The drinking session of the Burras continues till 4.00 a.m.

Assam being in the east, day break is much faster,  hence Garden Time (GT) which is one hour ahead of Indian Standard Time (IST).

Dawn breaks in the eastern sky.  That is the time Burra Saab decides to call it a day. The Asstt.Managers and their wives heave a  sigh of relief. (Thank God...next time we shall come on our own....)

"All aboard!"exclaims Burra Saab in the driving seat, and the jeep moves towards the garden. Bad luck for the factory assistant who is dropped at the factory gate, still in his formal clothes,  to see if everything is running fine!

It was that transition period of the eighties when the screen in planters' clubs was gradually replaced by TV and VCP (Video Cassette Player).  We, as young planters, travelled great distances on motorcycles to see a movie in the club, eat in the 'Dhaba' and return to the garden late at night.

Jorhat Gymkhana Club was the prime destination for almost all the planters travelling from Sivasagar, Amguri and beyond, and Bokakhat. Those days Jorhat Gymkhana Club was famous for screening good English movies.  Besides enjoying the movie, one could order dinner, preferably Chinese, which was served at your seat while watching the movie.

Sonari Planters Club was also very active those days when veteran planters from Jorhat and beyond frequented the club.  This Club was also another destination for adventurous  young planters for a different reason. The Club Secretary saw that the screening of good movies was an expensive affair. With his innovative ideas, he managed to pull a big crowd on almost all club evenings not by screening movies but  with his personal colour TV and a Video Cassette Player brought all the way from his garden.

The colour TV and the VCP were a draw at that time as these electronic gadgets were expensive and were not readily available in all households.

To add to the attraction, an enterprising lady member of the Club used to bring  ready to eat ‘Masala Chicken' which one could buy while watching the movie on the TV. 

The original cassettes performed beautifully with crystal clear viewing which mesmerised everyone. There used to be a demand for two to three movies per night. 

Club attendance increased. The dwindling finances of the club improved to a great extent from the sale of liquor. Later almost all the Planters clubs procured colour TVs and Video Cassette Players - but we missed the finger licking Masala Chicken!