Indian Chai Stories: May 2020

Monday, May 25, 2020

Back in the Day - Part XI

by Shipra Castledine

I am back after another gap! I guess it is because I am now in the timeframe of my last chapter, not living in the tea gardens but still very much in the tea industry and thus very much connected. Our holidays continued to be in the tea estates with one friend or another. The visits to friends in their bungalows was reciprocal as we would put them up when they needed to be in Siliguri. The close friends we would visit over and over again amongst others in previous years were Timmy Randhawa at Dam Dim TE and our trek to Dalsingpara TE to the Circars whenever possible.

We first started spending weekends at Timmy’s assistant’s bungalow when he was a bachelor. We would be comfortably put up in his large ground floor bedroom with a bathroom on that floor. Now, if any of you know Timmy you know that he was kind of OCD. Let me give you an example. Timmy would question if you did not clean out a tomato sauce bottle top before screwing it back on! So this leads to a funny incident which brings a laugh every time I recall it. The bathroom we used had a tub and a shower over the tub. There was a shower curtain that you drew around the bath so water did not slop all over the bathroom. We had all finished our baths and were outside enjoying the garden. Tubloo, my late husband, was the last to have his shower. I’m not sure why but I think Timmy came downstairs to check everything was alright for his guests and in that he visited the bathroom. As he came out to be with us his first question to Tubloo was ‘why didn’t you draw the shower curtain?’ I don’t think Tubloo deigned to reply. Timmy would have repeated the question to Tubloo a number of times in the course of the rest of the day ha ha.. I can walk into Timmy’s mind and envisage his horror at seeing water all over the bathroom floor!

And to this day we cannot forget Timmy’s cook Bahadur’s meringue custard! It would come to the table at the end of a wonderful dinner, in a big Pyrex baking dish, hot with wonderfully charred swirled blobs of meringue over a delicious baked caramel custard! I have never had anything that good since! And another thing I remember as a speciality at Timmy’s bungalow was a breakfast of scrambled eggs on toast which was a creamy mound of scrambled eggs on a well browned fried slice of bread! You were served toast separately too.

In the memories I must take you all back to Ozzie and Chinny and our special connection with them. I am talking of the year Chinny got pregnant and decided to go ahead with the baby at the age of 45 I think it was. Chinny, you can correct me if I am wrong. Then started the visits to her doctor in Siliguri. It meant that they would need to stay overnight in Siliguri and we gladly had them stay with us. We shared Chinny’s term of pregnancy with her. The trials of being at her age and yet wonderfully bearing the pregnancy.

Came the final days. Chinny’s due date was nigh. They prepared to stay at our place till Chinny needed to go into hospital. The day / night Raoul was born Chinny visited her doctor in the day and he told Ozzie to go back to the garden as the baby was a long way in coming. So off Ozzie drove. Well, as babies do, Raoul decided to come into the world that night! Tubloo and myself took Chinny in to the hospital and waited, pacing the floor like expectant parents! It wasn’t too long later that Dr Mukherjee I think it was came out and announced that Chinny had had a healthy baby boy! It was SO exciting for us! And we felt so bad for Ozzie not being there. Ozzie came back the next day and I am sure he was the proudest Dad. We still have the beautiful painting that Chinny presented us.

Chinny's painting on the wall at the back

Ozzie and Chinny followed up with more visits to Siliguri for baby check ups. These connections are lifelong. I re-connected to Chinny on Facebook several months ago after a long long gap and the warmth and feelings were just the same. I know I can visit them in Chandigarh whenever it is possible and the hospitality will be the same as we had in Dalsingpara TE. So much life has happened in between and life changes. It is very comforting to find people like Ozzie and Chinny who are just the same.

My daughters have perhaps a stronger connection to tea as it is more recent and they were brought up in their formative years in Siliguri. They recall times spent in Siliguri with a great deal of fondness and homesickness. It was not only the beautiful surroundings that we lived in but the quality of life. And as Tubloo and I were both tea baba-s our children felt at home in the tea estates. When we recall memories from our years in Siliguri they remember the picnics and the food we all pooled in. One family outdoing the other. One spot in particular we would visit was a divine spot we named Carritt’s Beach. It was past the Coronation Bridge on Sevoke Road and on the road to Kalimpong and Sikkim. We would park our cars on the top and trek down to the Teesta river. It wasn’t an easy trek down but we all managed along with alcohol and food and rugs to sit on. It was incredibly beautiful. I can’t even tell you how many times we had a picnic there. Not to mention the moonlit picnics we would have to other easier access spots on the same road around the mountains. Hard to imagine these blessings we had, to take full advantage of mother nature in all ways. The bounty of her landscape, the fresh produce we enjoyed, the climate.

On Carritt's Beach

Another picnic spot my daughters remember is one that was closer to Siliguri. I can’t quite recall which direction it was but we would bump along kanchha paths to reach a big ‘jhora’, not quite a river but a strong flowing stream with plenty of rocks in it. On a hot day we would all just get in the water and sit on those rocks, have chilled beer and drinks and the food would be passed around in their containers. One of these times my daughters never forget and neither do I, is one where one of the ladies had brought delicious large jumbo prawns simply cooked in garlic and chilli. OMG, sitting in that cold water and eating those incredibly succulent, delicious hot huge prawns was heaven! These sorts of days went by in a wave of hilarity and enjoyment. The world has become so difficult now. I wish we could reinvent days like those.

One occasion we always remember is a day all the tea broker families who were living in Siliguri decided to get together for a men’s cook off. The menu was Khao Suey with all the garnishings. Naturally much alcohol was imbibed, cricket was set up on the lawns of the selected house we were having the day in. Pre lunch drink time went by, lunch time went by, tea time went by and the men weren’t finished with their cooking!! Loud men’s voices in the kitchen arguing over the progress (or non-progress) of the cooking emanated and the girls and children were getting famished. Ladies visited the kitchen from time to time to give their advice but were shoo-ed away! Guess what time we finally ate lunch!! 6pm ha ha Was it worth the wait??? Debatable but it was a memorable day! If you have eaten Khao Suey you know that it is a challenge not to dribble gravy! Rajiv Puri did not dribble! We were in awe of his fastidiousness!! Regardless of the time, we had double helpings and the dekchi of chicken Khao Suey was emptied!

If I were to enumerate all the wonderful outings and drives it would truly fill up a book. I am sure some of these recollections will resonate. More in my next….

MEET THE WRITER:

'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 all Shipra's posts 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

Seema's Chalice

The very first video story on Indian Chai Stories - you will love it!!
by Seema Anand

Meet the storyteller:

Seema is a London based mythologist and narrative practitioner and although her sanity is a little suspect she is a brilliant story teller. Seema's work in the revival of women's narratives is associated with the UNESCO project for Endangered Oral Traditions.

As part of her (not so) secret formula for world peace Seema lectures on the Kamasutra and is an acknowledged authority on the erotic literatures of the East. In her less peaceful moments she also delivers courses on Tantric philosophy.

Thursday, May 21, 2020

Our Writers - in Pictures!

Hello friends! Take a look at our latest picture collages.

There are forty three* storytellers/writers so far - and we have room for many more!

Collage No. 1, below, our 'latest' writers!
Clockwise from top left: Inder Nain, Shivani Taimni, Bipin Tandon, Saaz Aggarwal

Above, clockwise from top left: Gumi Malhotra, Indi Khanna, Dip Sengupta, Simran Sandhu, V.R.Srikanth, Radhika Tandon

Above, top row (left to right): Mrinalini Rautela Pahwa, Mamlu Chatterjee, Minoo Avari
Centre row (left to right): Mirza Yawar Baig, Venk Shenoi
Bottom row (left to right): Rajan Mehra, Aloke Mookerjee, Danny Pariat

And below, our writers' picture collage as of June 2018.
The names are on the pictures. Last year's technology!!

Indian Chai Stories' Writers - updated June 2018

A handful of old friends wrote the first stories, starting March 2018 - and now there are forty three* writers here!

Waiting to hear your story - send it to me at indianchaistories@gmail.com
- Gowri Mohanakrishnan

If you have come to this blog page for the first time, please keep clicking on the link to 'Older Posts' or see our Blog Archive to guide you to more stories. A list of labels will help you find different writers.

Happy reading!

Cheers to the spirit of Indian tea!

*and forty two pictures, because we don't have one for Larry Brown!!

My Favourite Walk

by Inder Nain

My favorite walk happens a couple of times a week, or as many times I can return from work at least half an hour before sunset, which is a shade before seven pm round the year. When it does happen, my wife is always ready & waiting. I am as eager as the dog & we are soon on our way.

Getting out through the back gate, we climb the gentle hill behind the house and take the grassy road between the tea fields. The dog bounds on ahead chasing after birds. The 'caucal', a biggish brown bird, is the most vulnerable. The caucal makes its nest among the tea bushes. It has a low, clumsy flight. The dog does manage to knock one down once in a while when he takes it by surprise. Fortunately he doesn’t know what to do after that. With me yelling and screaming at him to leave the bird alone, he runs away quite content with the outcome of the game and the frightened bird scurries off into the bush.

Wife and I hurry along. The grass is still wet from the afternoon showers & our sneakers are soon soaked through. We talk continuously. The topics are many and varied. I tell her a little about work, she tells me a lot about her day, the children and their school, about our friends and everything else.

It is wonderful; I soak in the stories and the scenery. Hills stretch into the distance in varying shades of green and blue. The land falls away towards the east. The view of this vast expanse is overwhelming. The rains have been good and it is green and lush everywhere. The cypress trees are tall and heavy with all the moisture. A gust knocks some water on to us as we pass. We walk on with the water now going 'squish, squish' in our shoes.

Suddenly the sun is in the gap between the clouds & the opposite hills. The whole area is bathed in the evening sunlight. The yellowish green of the tea bushes spread like carpets across the hills glimmers and glows as it catches the sun at that angle. The patches of red cannas scattered around the tea fields are ablaze. We stop and admire the grandeur as we have done so many times before, amazed at the beauty. The dog is still running up and down the road chasing after every sound and smell that tickles his senses. We reach the end of the road and turn around; the sun catches us straight in our faces. We pull our caps down a little to avoid the glare and start the walk back. The return, about one and a half kilometres, must be covered fast, as the sun will sink quickly now. We talk more than we look and walk fast.

A pale gray hue descends upon the valley as the sun vanishes behind the hills. I yell for the dog as we approach the house. The jackals will be out soon. The night sounds are picking up. The crickets start their cacophony, the doves coo as they settle back into their nests. The auger buzzard has taken post for the night on a telephone post opposite the house. A cold light mist is all around as we return through the back gate. The lights are flickering on. "Mbili, chai, please", my wife tells the cook as we peel our drenched shoes and socks off. Another wonderful walk .

Pix of Kipkebe tea plantation at Kericho, Kenya, courtesy Shashi Menon

Meet the writer: Inder Nain

Inder in his own words:

Inder's life & times
Little brains & ample mind,
No common sense to hold me behind,
I push on..

Lucky breaks & simple takes,
Keeps me smelling the roses -
and whisky's fine,
Leaving little room to whine.

And here is the 'practical version' as his wife calls it:
Inder Nain worked for Goodricke Tea for 15 years in the Dooars and Assam before moving to Kenya in 2000. He worked with Sasini tea and coffee before moving on to start his own rose farm in 2006. He is now successfully settled in Kenya growing roses.

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, maybe 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/

Monday, May 11, 2020

New Pioneers

by Bipin Tandon

In the second half of the 80's, efforts were being made to bring Arunachal on to the tea map. One enterprising man Mr.Basant Dube had taken the lead. He had persuaded an influential politician to plant a garden.

I got a call SOS at Lucknow, where I was living after a sack from DUNCANS after 19 years of service. I was disappointed with tea and was trying other means of making a living. However Mr. Dube told me come as leave vacancy for not over a month, as his manager had developed some medical problem. He would be back soon.

I could not turn down his offer. Third day I took a flight to Lilabari and then drove 250 kms! -to Jonah - last place in Assam. The driver took me to an abandoned saw mill. He said arrangements had been made for me to stay the night there. In the morning we would go to the garden.

At eight am the next day we set off for the garden. After driving 20kms or so we reached a river bank. Driver showed me that the garden was on the other side and since the river had a lot of water we could not cross. I am a non swimmer. CHALLANGE Number One!

I told the assembled locals to get a rope tied to trees on both ends of river. I got stilts made and crossed the holding rope.

We had a bamboo house for the manager's bungalow with GCI sheets. The house had electricity and a telephone. It had a thunder box cubicle with a bucket. Rain water was collected through the roof guttering.

We had a television and fixed what was a sofa for sitting - posts driven in. The ground floor was a kitchen. Beds made of bamboos. This was how we began.

Now imagine what would have been situation in 1880-90s! Salute to the pioneers. What a life, gone now - built up with hard work.

The writer introduces himself:

Bipin Behari Tandon. Joined Duncans in 1964.
An agri graduate from UPAU Pantnagar.
Out from TEA since Jan.2018.

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

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