Hello again, dear readers! Today, I'm delighted to welcome another new writer to Indian Chai Stories. Thank you, Aditi, for telling us this lovely story of how a Darjeeling tea garden got its name. -Gowri
His young daughter Margaret loved to walk through the tea gardens and spend her days outdoors. There was a little lake mirroring the blue sky. She loved to rest by it and watch the floating clouds and the fog descending on its waters, and she wrote her little diary.
Margaret fell in love with the estate and when she left for home in England, she left her heart in the hills and promised to return soon. The little girl died of a tropical disease on ship. Soon after, Cruickshank thought he had a vision of Margaret on the estate grounds. In memory of his daughter, he renamed the estate Margaret’s Hope.
Another version of the story that is popular with the locals goes like this. Margaret had a lung condition which worsened and she never recovered from it. One day her father told her that there was talk of laying a railway track on the hills and she requested him to make sure it would go by the estate. When she was very ill and couldn’t step outside, she would lie on her bed and look out of the large French windows hoping for the toy train to go whistling by. But she died soon after. The track ran close to the garden and the toy train did whistle by but her hope to ride a train in Darjeeling remained unfulfilled.
The other story narrated by the tea pickers is that Mr. Cruickshank had once said that he felt his dear daughter’s presence in the garden and eventually a couple of staff claimed to have seen her apparition. And the legend was born.
Today, Margaret’s Hope is owned by Goodricke group and is a much sought after tourist site. I enjoyed the trip to the plantation and like most days, when a film of mist covered the gardens, I thought of this young English girl’s spirit that haunts the green hills. I see her in my mind, sleeping, waking and walking her endless journey in the hope of finding her little dream, with passage of time forgetting the purpose of her wandering. She is like the mist on the hills, mysterious and much fabled.
Meet the writer:
My name is Gowri Mohanakrishnan and I'm a tea planter's wife. I started this blog in 2018 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!
Been there nd stayed in the b'low with friends veeru nd Neelam..later on we heard about the story of haunted b'low though we never felt any super natural Power 😀 awesome
ReplyDeleteI lived near Munnar in Kerala which is the home of tea gardens. Each morning I looked out of my window on endless rows of tea shrubs. Later dozens of workers came to pluck the tea!!
ReplyDeleteBrilliantly narrated, enjoyed every bit the Tolly club had a particular room named after Cruckshank- yes the tea estate's are indeed lovely!
ReplyDeleteA little girl's hope lives on! ❤️
ReplyDeleteGood read
ReplyDeleteStories like this are always touching. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteSweet stories of how Margaret's Hope got it's name, pulling at my heart strings and filling me with a tinge of sadness and nostalgia. I have visited this beautiful tea garden, a very dear awesome Uncle and Auntie lived here , very good friends of my parents.
ReplyDeleteCame across this blog today. My grandfather was a tea planter. I have grown hearing so many stories from the tea gardens of the East of India. I am glad someone is making an effort to preserve this legacy and familiarising the unfamiliar with the wonderful world of chai bagaans.
ReplyDeleteThe garden was locked down and Goodrickes opened it in 1984 spring. The directors from Goodrickes head office Raja Durgaparsad and Cooper David were instrumental in getting the deal through. A team of planters were sent to open the garden and rejuvenate it. They were Deo Dixit, Briskey Brooks, Robin Bannerjee and Veru Narayan.
ReplyDeleteWe did get the plantation and factory going and sold Margaret Hopes tea for the highest price that year in the Calcutta Auctions conducted by J. Thomas under Ronobir Sen.
My three generations were in tea My Father retired from Gandrapara in 1968 My self retired from Gandrapara in 2002 n very proud to write that my Son Parminder Singh is the present Manager at Margaret’s Hope Thanks Duncan Brothers n M/S Goodricke Group Ltd
ReplyDeleteI wonder if Cruickshank was Scottish rather than English as many Scots were in tea in North East India.
ReplyDelete