by Shipra Castledine
The mainstay of the tea estate was / is the labour force. The iconic picture of a tea estate in India is that of a female labourer with a huge cane basket strapped over her head, plucking the young tea leaves on the top of the bush and deftly dropping them into the basket. Some used cloth bags to hold the plucked tea leaf.
And you had your babus in the garden office who did all the clerical work. The babus had to be able to speak in English as they worked with the Britishers, back in the day. Their English was unique and though I cannot remember some of the things they said, I remember the look of an office ‘babu’ and how he would speak! Quite distinct.
The burra saab and memsahib were like the king and queen of the tea estate. They were responsible for the wellbeing of their 'subjects' on the estate, their kingdom. The manager and his wife had to be a shoulder to cry on, counsellors, good hosts - and a friend. Whilst the burra saab taught his assistants all he could work-wise as well as the play side of life in tea, the burra memsahib took in hand the young brides who would inevitably enter into the picture. I remember a young couple in the chota bungalow down the road from our burra bungalow. I cannot remember their first names but they were the Tandons. They were a good looking couple. She came to Baintgoorie T.E. as a newly married bride. She was all at sea in tea, having come from Delhi.
Mum visited her every day when her husband was away at work and she would explain the unique terminology of the gardens like malibari, chowkidar, paaniwala, bawarchi and so much more. Mum would also explain the routine of life in tea. At times mum would visit and find the beautiful bride in tears as the change from her urban life to life in tea was so huge. At these times mum had to be mum, counsellor, friend and burra memsaab.
As the days went by Pummy (I think that was her name) settled down and started enjoying her new life. There were plenty of other chota memsaabs around in the district. They would get together of a morning and enjoy a session of morning tea and delicacies and have a good old talk sharing similar experiences.
As little girls are, I was fascinated with these brides. By the time Pummy was on Baintgoorie I was a schoolgirl and would be at home only on holidays from boarding school. When I was at home I would every other day drag an ayah from our bungalow and walk down the kaacha road (actually a beautiful road of gravel and a centre strip of grass – typical in all tea estates) to the end chota bungalow where the Tandons were. I would spend an exhilarating hour or so in Pummy’s company staring at her new clothes and entranced with her new bride status.
Soon enough Pummy was pregnant and mum played the role of mum again. The only medical facilities available for the tea planters and their families was the district GP. You were lucky if you got a good district doctor! We did have a GP who hadn’t been too flash a doctor in the city but did well enough in our district as he was a bit of a canny diagnostician (if there is such a word!). He was Dr. Mahajan. For the likes of Pummy he was the only medico to see her through her pregnancy!
However, expecting mothers in tea could fly to Calcutta every few months to have a check up with a gynaecologist. As Pummy got closer to her time she went home to her parents to have the baby in Delhi. This was fairly normal practice for young couples. The hubby would be on his own for a few months, probably just getting some leave to go and see his newborn baby.
The new mother would come home to her tea bungalow probably in 3-4 months time usually with her mother in tow. The new grandmother would stay and see her daughter and grandchild through a couple of months. In this time, an experienced ayah would be employed who would turn out to be the young mother’s lifeline! Life in tea when you got to experience every part of it, could be very comfortable for a family. You actually did not lift a finger to do anything not even to do the hard yards for your baby! If you wanted you could have a day ayah and a night ayah!
A bit more about Dr. Mahajan. I remember mum started suffering from some gastric problems mainly due to the social life in tea. Plenty of morning teas, mah-jong mornings, evening teas and dinners galore, all accompanied by sumptuous food. You did not go to the doctor. He visited your bungalow on routine days of the week!
On one such visit to the bungalow mum consulted Dr. Mahajan with her complaints. His prescription was to take one teaspoon of Milk of Magnesia after lunch and after dinner. Mum felt a bit let down with this inglorious treatment but she followed it and in a week’s time she was over the indigestion and gastric problems! I have never forgotten this tale of mum’s and that she used to say that degrees did not always make for a good doctor. It was the diagnosis!
One of the drawbacks of being in the tea plantations was the lack of hospitals and good enough medical facilities. You were lucky if you kept good health which thankfully my parents and I did but if you had any problems aside from run of the mill tummy upsets or flu etc it was a hard ask to get to decent medicals. The Dooars planters usually had to go up to the DDMA - Planters Hospital in Darjeeling or if you were lucky to be connected to the army they would treat you at the army hospital at their base in Binnaguri.
That’s my recollections for this chapter!
To be continued.........................
Editor's note: Shipra Castledine lives in Brisbane, Australia. Shipra has been sending us these charming and absorbing instalments of 'Back in the Day': recollections of her childhood in the tea gardens of the Dooars.
Here's what Shipra has to say about herself :
'My name is Shipra Castledine nee Shipra Bose (Bunty). My parents were Sudhin and Gouri Bose. I am a tea 'baba' of the 1950-s era. I spent a part of my life growing up in the Dooars and another large part of my life married to a tea planter's son the Late KK Roy son of PK and Geeta Roy of Rungamuttee TE in the Dooars. I continued to be in the tea industry for many years as KK was a tea broker till he passed away in 1998.' Read more stories by Shipra here: https://teastorytellers.blogspot.com/search/label/Shipra%20Castledine
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!
ADD THIS LINK TO YOUR FAVOURITES : https://teastorytellers.blogspot.com/Indian Chai Stories
The mainstay of the tea estate was / is the labour force. The iconic picture of a tea estate in India is that of a female labourer with a huge cane basket strapped over her head, plucking the young tea leaves on the top of the bush and deftly dropping them into the basket. Some used cloth bags to hold the plucked tea leaf.
And you had your babus in the garden office who did all the clerical work. The babus had to be able to speak in English as they worked with the Britishers, back in the day. Their English was unique and though I cannot remember some of the things they said, I remember the look of an office ‘babu’ and how he would speak! Quite distinct.
The burra saab and memsahib were like the king and queen of the tea estate. They were responsible for the wellbeing of their 'subjects' on the estate, their kingdom. The manager and his wife had to be a shoulder to cry on, counsellors, good hosts - and a friend. Whilst the burra saab taught his assistants all he could work-wise as well as the play side of life in tea, the burra memsahib took in hand the young brides who would inevitably enter into the picture. I remember a young couple in the chota bungalow down the road from our burra bungalow. I cannot remember their first names but they were the Tandons. They were a good looking couple. She came to Baintgoorie T.E. as a newly married bride. She was all at sea in tea, having come from Delhi.
As the days went by Pummy (I think that was her name) settled down and started enjoying her new life. There were plenty of other chota memsaabs around in the district. They would get together of a morning and enjoy a session of morning tea and delicacies and have a good old talk sharing similar experiences.
As little girls are, I was fascinated with these brides. By the time Pummy was on Baintgoorie I was a schoolgirl and would be at home only on holidays from boarding school. When I was at home I would every other day drag an ayah from our bungalow and walk down the kaacha road (actually a beautiful road of gravel and a centre strip of grass – typical in all tea estates) to the end chota bungalow where the Tandons were. I would spend an exhilarating hour or so in Pummy’s company staring at her new clothes and entranced with her new bride status.
Soon enough Pummy was pregnant and mum played the role of mum again. The only medical facilities available for the tea planters and their families was the district GP. You were lucky if you got a good district doctor! We did have a GP who hadn’t been too flash a doctor in the city but did well enough in our district as he was a bit of a canny diagnostician (if there is such a word!). He was Dr. Mahajan. For the likes of Pummy he was the only medico to see her through her pregnancy!
However, expecting mothers in tea could fly to Calcutta every few months to have a check up with a gynaecologist. As Pummy got closer to her time she went home to her parents to have the baby in Delhi. This was fairly normal practice for young couples. The hubby would be on his own for a few months, probably just getting some leave to go and see his newborn baby.
The new mother would come home to her tea bungalow probably in 3-4 months time usually with her mother in tow. The new grandmother would stay and see her daughter and grandchild through a couple of months. In this time, an experienced ayah would be employed who would turn out to be the young mother’s lifeline! Life in tea when you got to experience every part of it, could be very comfortable for a family. You actually did not lift a finger to do anything not even to do the hard yards for your baby! If you wanted you could have a day ayah and a night ayah!
A bit more about Dr. Mahajan. I remember mum started suffering from some gastric problems mainly due to the social life in tea. Plenty of morning teas, mah-jong mornings, evening teas and dinners galore, all accompanied by sumptuous food. You did not go to the doctor. He visited your bungalow on routine days of the week!
On one such visit to the bungalow mum consulted Dr. Mahajan with her complaints. His prescription was to take one teaspoon of Milk of Magnesia after lunch and after dinner. Mum felt a bit let down with this inglorious treatment but she followed it and in a week’s time she was over the indigestion and gastric problems! I have never forgotten this tale of mum’s and that she used to say that degrees did not always make for a good doctor. It was the diagnosis!
 |
| DDMA - Planters' Hospital, Darjeeling |
That’s my recollections for this chapter!
To be continued.........................
Here's what Shipra has to say about herself :
'My name is Shipra Castledine nee Shipra Bose (Bunty). My parents were Sudhin and Gouri Bose. I am a tea 'baba' of the 1950-s era. I spent a part of my life growing up in the Dooars and another large part of my life married to a tea planter's son the Late KK Roy son of PK and Geeta Roy of Rungamuttee TE in the Dooars. I continued to be in the tea industry for many years as KK was a tea broker till he passed away in 1998.' Read more stories by Shipra here: https://teastorytellers.blogspot.com/search/label/Shipra%20Castledine
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!
ADD THIS LINK TO YOUR FAVOURITES : https://teastorytellers.blogspot.com/Indian Chai Stories
Hi Shipra, your story brought back some lovely memories. Would the planter you talk about be Prabhu? I knew one Prabhu Tandan who was with Duncans, I think. Yes, the tea Doctors were a far cry from todays highly qualified medicos. I was once a little queasy with a runny tummy but never to miss a club night I was there. In the club, I told our CMO, the famous, Dr Madhok of my problem. He nodded sagely and prescribed ham sandwiches and brandy as the palliative!
ReplyDeleteVery interesting, Bunty. Touch wood, the memory of an elephant, and an eye for detail!
ReplyDeleteHi Aloke. Yes, I am pretty sure it was Prabhu Tandon! And I remember Dr Madhok too! What a life we had in tea. Much changed now I believe.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments.
Your eye for detail is astounding, Bunty!
ReplyDeleteAs I said before, your chronicling must be put into a book , lest future generations forget the grandeur and adventure of tea life
ReplyDeleteBrilliant story. I am an ex-planter myself and so can relate. Brings back such lovely memories.
ReplyDeleteHi Shipra
ReplyDeleteWhat a charming account of a life that we all remember so fondly ! Keep writing!