The Annual Inspection

by Manjit Singh

Hello again, friends! Here's something to make you smile this Sunday evening, thanks to Manjit Singh! Over to Manjit, who tells us what kept everyone at Yellapatty ( Munnar ) on their toes on the 14th and 15th of May, 1979. Cheers!  

Pix of Yellapatty from the website https://www.onmanorama.com/travel/kerala/2019/03/22/yellappetty-yellapatty-tamil-nadu-kerala-border-travel-destination.html

The buzz on the estate in April was the annual inspection. The annual inspection of all estates by the Visiting Agent ( a very senior official of the company) took place between April and June. The performance of the estate during the previous financial year was appraised and targets set for the new financial year. There was an aura which was built around this inspection which translated into something surreal.

The dates for the inspection at Yellapatty estate were announced in a crisply worded letter received from the Regional Office. The annual inspection was to be conducted on the 14th and 15th of May 1979. That gave us three weeks time to prepare. There was a palpable nervousness visible on the faces of the staff and supervisors who had to ensure that everything went off well.

A meeting was convened by the Manager where he briefed everyone on the works to be undertaken before the inspection – there also was a veiled threat that any adverse comments from the Visiting Agent would not be accepted!

There was a flurry of activity for the next three weeks; fields were weeded to look clean, roads repaired, fencing tightened,and estate boards painted. All buildings were whitewashed and labour line surroundings cleaned. The estate was slowly getting a new look.

On the 14th morning the VA drove into the estate in his jeep, accompanied by a staff member from his department. After a brief meeting with the manager, the visit commenced. I sat in the rear of the jeep and listened to a serious conversation on the crisis in the tea industry due to the increasing cost of production and low price realization. I was most impressed -- only to realize later that this was the usual topic of discussion in the industry from time immemorial and even to this day!

We covered a large section of the estate in the forenoon ,with frequent stops to inspect plucking standards, heights of fields pruned and so on while engaging in polite conversations the with staff and supervisors whom we met.

We then went to the Manager's bungalow for lunch. There was gin and tonic which was consumed generously and the conversation drifted from the performance of our club cricket team in the last match to the maintenance of the Kundaly golf course. Lunch was a big spread and a gourmet's delight and I wondered what work would be done in the afternoon.

My hunch was right ; a unanimous decision was taken to complete the inspection of the factory in the afternoon. The factory was in immaculately clean condition and the teas that the factory officer produced for tasting were of excellent quality – especially manufactured for the visit! The VA was impressed and complimented the factory officer who accepted all the accolades with grace, knowing that the teas shown would never reach the market and that his factory's brief tryst with discipline would be over after the visit!

On the second day of the visit we covered all the remaining areas of the estate and the nursery in the forenoon, to settle down for another sumptuous lunch.The hostess was thanked profusely for her hospitality and we went to the office for a final discussion. The staff from the VA's office was called in and he confirmed with a benign smile that the accounts and other figures pertaining estate were in order. Then there was a discussion on the observations made during the visit and setting of targets , and concluded with the VA remarking that the estate was in ‘good condition’. We all went to see him off and while getting into his jeep he pointed towards me and told my Manager, ‘The boy requires a ‘Weekend'’. It sounded like incarceration in solitary confinement over the weekend; but to my pleasant surprise it meant a weekend's leave to go to Cochin!

The annual inspection had gone off well and the word spread around the estate very quickly. Everyone heaved a sigh of relief as it would be another year before the frenzy of the annual inspection is built up again!

Meet the writer: 

Manjit Singh

I studied in the Lawrence School, Sanawar, and passed out in 1970. I then did my B.A (Hons) and M.A in History from Hindu College, Delhi University. I joined Tata Finlay in 1978 ( in 1983 it became Tata Tea ) and worked in the Plantation Division in South India- mainly in Munnar with a brief stint in the Anamallais in Tamil Nadu. 

I retired in 2014 as General Manager of the Tea Division of Tata Coffee, a subsidiary of Tata Tea. I am a keen sportsman and have represented the Club, Company and Upasi ( United Planters Association of South India) in cricket, squash and golf. After retirement we have settled in Chandigarh and my son and daughter work and live in Delhi. 

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