They say a home is where the heart lives. For me my first home as a bride was the beautiful TataTea estate DamDim in the Dooars. Every girl visualises how her home is going to be once she settles down with her partner. For a man who has been a bachelor for some years, taking up responsibilities and changing his style of living is also rather difficult.
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| Picture of DamDim T.E. from https://www.getbengal.com/details/from-tea-bush-to-tea-cup-enjoy-damdim-s-super-tea-trail |
My husband was an assistant manager at DamDim Tea Estate when we got married in the year 1999. My parents were sceptical about how I was going to adjust from city life to life in a tea garden. I on the other hand was really excited, and the moment we arrived at the estate I was so thrilled to see the sprawling green surroundings. My bungalow was huge and the view of the Kanchenjunga on a bright clear day was mesmerising.
I had started to settle in and started rearranging everything in my new abode. There was nothing much to bother about as I had so many bungalow servants who would do anything for us. The best part in the bungalow was the guest room which was called the 'Faaltu kamra'. The word ‘faaltu’ means ‘useless’ in Hindi, and it was funny to hear them say so. It took me two three days to do up my home and every evening my husband would be happy to see the changes.
It had just been four days and we were invited for a party at the 'factory bungalow', the deputy manager's bungalow near the factory. I was amused to hear these names. The party went on till midnight, and being the new bride, special care was taken of me.
We returned home and it was a lovely drive. The only thing was that I found it weird that there were no street lights. The only light was from the headlights of the car. We reached home very tired, and the moment I entered I saw my bungalow in a mess. The sofas had been turned upside down, the carpet rolled up, the decorative items all disarranged and scattered all over as if it had been ransacked. My husband remained cool while I was losing it completely.
The night chowkidar had no reply and no one knew what had happened. I had taken such pains to do up my home and it was all undone. To my surprise there arrived two cars . It was past midnight and my husband welcomed the guests with the rooms all messed up. He introduced me to them and I kept myself calm and composed.
I was a bit reluctant to meet them, wondering what would they think about my house and me. Tea was ordered, which took very long. On enquiring I was told there was no milk or tea. I had never been in such an awkward situation. When I joined my husband and guests, I came to know all that had happened.
While we were away, these friends had come in to mess up my house, something that they always did when anyone got married - and then they would come back again after a while pretending they had never been there! It was all taken in good spirit and everyone laughed about it. They apologised for what they’d done, as they could clearly make out it was not funny for me. That is how they used to have fun with friends and family in those days at our tea estate.
You might find this weird, as I did initially, but I would like to let you know, my stay in a tea garden was the best part of my life after my marriage. The memories I made there, the friends , the fun and the bonding I have never ever seen anywhere. It has been twelve years that we left and settled down in a city, but we still long to go back and live life again in the midst of nature. There are so many instances that happened with us in every tea garden where we stayed, but DamDim Tea Estate is the home where my heart lives.
About the writer:
My name is Mansi Chaturvedi. I am based in Kolkata. I am a published writer and a blogger. I had been part of the tea family for 15 years as my husband was working for Tata tea. We had wonderful experience in tea gardens both in Dooars and Assam.
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!
This is the link to all the stories on this blog:
https://teastorytellers.blogspot.com/
Be sure to add it to your list of favourites! Happy reading!! Cheers to the spirit of Indian tea!
Enjoyed your experience as a newly married Mem Shaib in the tea estate... it brought back some nostalgic memories as planters son of the fifties and ad a contemporary planter... the transition from a rowdy bachelor to tame and sane person is in tje hands of a good wife and am most lucky to hsve one
ReplyDeletethere's a saying "You have the heaven in your hand if you jave a good wife" ,couldn't it be more truer for a tea planter
Lovely recollection. Do also remember the pranks we, as young bachelor's, played on unsuspecting new brides when they arrived all full of innocent charm and oblivious of the ways of the 'wild' planters in her midst!
ReplyDeletePlease post a pic of the bungalow you occupied! Thanks !
ReplyDeleteI am an Ex-Tea Planter. I prefer to say just planter without the Ex because the saying goes, “Once a planter, always a planter.”
ReplyDeleteLife in Tea has no comparison. No matter where life takes us later in life, Tea is always the dream land.
My career in Tea started in a remote tea estate in the district of Sylhet in Bangladesh.
During my very early days in Tea, I once asked my first Bara Saab, A. Q. Ahsanullah, Esqr., Manager Dhamai Tea Estate, who by the way is the longest serving tea planter in Bangladesh, how he could spend 18 years of his life in Tea.
His reply was, “The addiction of working in a tea garden is stronger than the addiction of drinking tea. You have just started, keep working and you will realize it yourself.”
His statement, I firmly believe is a universal truth.
To this day I feel those were the best days of my life and I wish I could still be there in the lush green gardens of peace and tranquility.
The long days in tilla followed by factory duty after dusk.
The long awaited club days in the valley clubs.
Those life long friends now scattered across the globe with whom we fondly recollect and share our unique experiences and memories, never to fade.
Tea Planters belong to a large family, no matter where we are, at what stage of our lives, we still feel connected irrespective of time and distance.
My regards to all tea planters, past present and future.
Haven't heard of such incidents before. I lived in the Dooars. 1962-65.
ReplyDeleteNice article..reminded me of my days in tea as a new bride
ReplyDelete