Tinsukia Town

Hello again, dear readers! It’s great to welcome another new writer to Indian Chai Stories. And there is something very special about the stories told by children who grew up in tea; the Cha ka baba and baby log. I’m sure you will all enjoy reading Rajeev Mehra’s recollections of a cha bagan childhood in Upper Assam. Cheers! - Gowri 

An outing to Tinsukia town was a much awaited feature during my childhood in the tea gardens of Assam. My father was working for the Brooke Bond group of companies that owned the seven gardens around Doom Dooma town : Daimukhia, Hansara, Mesaijan, Samdang, Raidang, Beesakopie and Fatikjan.

During our time in the gardens, we lived in most of these gardens, starting with Daimukhia, moving to Hansara and Mesaijan and then finishing in Fatikjan where dad finished off as the Manager of the two gardens Beesakopie and Fatikjan combined. I was a wee toddler when we were in Daimukhia and grew up to a more conscious age in the Hansara and Mesaijan bungalows.

It was during these childhood years that we developed a passion for the outing to Tinsukia town. These were far and between, as Tinsukia was a good distance away and the road leading to the town wasn't very good near the Makum Junction. Besides, Mum always said that our rations and weekly shopping could be easily procured from Doom Dooma town itself. So, we jumped on every opportunity to head out to Tinsukia. It was a coveted outing and we looked forward to it eagerly, often pestering our parents to take us there.

There were a few main attractions in Tinsukia town that we pined for. The first of them was the Ranglalls shop. This was THE shop to go to to get clothes like Park Avenue Teeshirts and Raymond shirts. We often pestered mum and dad to buy us teeshirts from there.

The other attraction was a Sardarji's shop that we used to go to buy snacks and eatables. We often made a beeline here to get sweets and candies along with Chocolate snacks and Chips from this shop. This was another place that we pestered our parents to bring us to.

The live fish and vegetable market was the other draw in town. We used to love looking at the live fish freshly caught and bought in to the market with the shopkeepers shouting out their prices and quality. We were completely mesmerised in this small and loud microcosm of hawkers peddling their wares, drivers and bearers from neighbouring gardens haggling for a good price for their Memsahibs, Membsahibs themselves inspecting the produce and the public milling to haggle a good bargain.

We often got the Ari and Rohu fish here, which the cook produced in a "planters curry", with potatoes. This was often a meal that we looked forward to and it was a favourite with my brother and me.

And finally, the biggest draw in Tinsukia town was the Highway Restaurant. We would go there for Dosas and Sambhar once in a while and these visits were pined for as we waited days and months for the Tinsukia trip.

All in all, we had a wondrous and exciting childhood in Assam. And we pestered our parents for these outings. It was truly fun living on the gardens and enjoying the "Tea life".

Meet the writer: Rajeev Mehra

As I mentioned, our time in Tea was around the town of Doom Dooma, in the Brooke Bond Gardens. My father was earlier in the North Bank area, around Mangaldai and Bishnauth Charali; and even North Lakhimpur - however, we kids grew up in the Doom Dooma area.

I was a toddler in Daimukhia Tea Estate and then grew up in the Hansara, Mesaijan and Fatikjan/Beesakopie bungalows. Schooling was in Darjeeling right from the age of 05 years and a half until 18 at the prestigious St. Paul's boarding school.

After school, I studied International Hotel Management from the Indian Institute of Hotel Management in Aurangabad and came to France to pursue a Masters Course in Hotel Management from Institut Vatel, Nimes. I stayed back to work and am now involved with the Hotel Industry, here in Nimes. On the way, I picked up the French language which is of great use to me professionally. I keep visiting India, and was last in Assam in 2018 for a trip to Shillong, Balipara, Kaziranga and Majuli area - but that will be the subject of a forthcoming story.

 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 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!