Going to School

Merry Christmas everyone! Enjoying the hols.? Rajeev Mehra stopped by to share his memories of those magical holidays at 'home' in the tea gardens. You know I love all the stories that 'cha ka baba-baby log' share. Many of you readers will be lost in reminiscence after reading this. Do drop me a line and tell me what your schooldays were like! Cheers! - Gowri

For tea kids who went to boarding school, the tea gardens which were home to us were also synonymous with holidays. In fact, our lives were organised between time spent on the gardens and time at school. It was indeed a magical time for us as our childhood resembled a picture book.

Going to school was a huge undertaking for us as we had to travel afar. All our things needed to be packed for us - personal effects like clothes, sports items, books etc - to last an entire school year. Our parents would lovingly arrange these items while we took stock of where each thing was so that we could find it easily.

My formal schooling began at the age of five and a half years in 1985 at the prestigious boarding school called Saint Paul's School in Jalapahar, Darjeeling. Earlier, I had attended pre-boarding classes at the local Saint Mary's School in Doom Dooma. I used to be dropped at school by the driver in the morning and picked up by him again in the afternoon. On our return, we would stop for "chana". Mummy insisted that "chana" was good for a growing kid and hence, "chana" was a regular item at tea time.

On finishing with Saint Mary's, our options were to either go to the local school in Digboi: Carmel, or to go to some boarding school elsewhere in the country. My parents chose to send us to Saint Paul's School in Darjeeling as it had a good reputation and had been recommended to my father by a colleague. A lot of our friends - other tea kids - went to boarding schools around the country. Popular amongst them were : St Lawrence Sanawar, Sherwood Nainital, Mayo Ajmer and Welhams Dehradun. Later on, the Assam Valley School also joined the ranks.

So there we were, in 1984. I was barely 5, and our parents had decided to enroll me at Saint Paul's School. I had to pass an entrance test for which I was taken to Darjeeling to meet the rector, Mr. Hari Dang. 1984 was also the year that they were changing rectors in school. Mr. Jefferson Anderson Gardener would be taking over from Mr. Dang. 

St Paul's School, Jalapahar, Darjeeling

I remember visiting Mr. Dang in the rectory at Saint Paul's. He ensured my parents that my candidature for the entrance test would be looked into and that I could begin schooling in 1985 in Class One.

Living on the gardens, in Doom Dooma, attending school in Darjeeling was quite an affair. While going to school was by flight on an Indian Airlines airplane from Dibrugarh Airport at Mohanbari, the return was by "school party" via Guwahati. Indeed, the school had instituted a system whereby a Master would accompany a group of children to the nearest airport. We were thus part of the Guwahati school party; the arrangement being that children would be met at the Guwahati Airport or put on 'Night Super' buses by the Master in charge in case they had foward journeys to undertake.

It was thus that I took many a trip on the 'Night Super' bus from Guwahati to Doom Dooma, to be picked up finally by the driver at the local petrol station next to Hansara tea estate and finally driven home. Our arrangements were thus : On the way to school - Flight from Dibrugarh to Bagdogra airport (via Guwahati) or Night Super bus to Guwahati airport and subsequent flight to Bagdogra airport. A bus would be waiting for us at Bagdogra airport to ferry us to school. Roll calls were taken to ensure that all were on board. 

On return from School, School party would drop us at Guwahati airport with parents or put us on the Guwahati - Dibrugarh flight or Guwahati - Doom Dooma Night Super bus. As kids, this was quite an adventure for us.

Usually, when the school party was running the route, we would stay overnight at the Urvashi Airport Hotel. This was an occasion to party with boys from the neighbouring estates and we often got into a celebratory mood. Needless to say, the hotel rooms were trashed by our antics!

School holidays lasted the entire winter season - it was much too cold for us to study in the mountains of Darjeeling, and we had to be let off. The holidays began in the last week of November and ended in the middle of March.

Throughout this period, we were at home, in the plains of Assam, enjoying the winter season with our parents - who themselves told us it was the lean season as far as cultivating tea was concerned.

We would spend our days playing in the bungalow with the servants and our evenings around a log fire in the living room. Often, we would head to the club for a round of squash or a game of golf. Sometimes we ended up playing billiards or would watch a film at the club. The club also had a nice library which was stocked with "Life" magazines and a few novels. I got into the habit of reading, thanks to the club library and because of mummy's insistence.

Winter was also time for the various annual meets of the district clubs and Doom Dooma had one in December. It was a fantastic time where we were supposed to arrive in fancy dress to be adjudged in a competition and take part in the various activities. There were tennis competitions, squash tournaments, Golf tournaments and the Flower Show. There was also a lottery in the evening along with a prize giving ceremony.

Our holidays in tea were extremely enjoyable.

Yes, growing up as a tea kid was a lot of fun. 

Meet the writer: Rajeev Mehra

As I mentioned, our time in Tea was spent  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!