The women of the hills who serve you tea

Tea pluckers on their way from one garden to another. [Photo provided by Malaka Rodrigo]

Now the daughter, with big bright eyes, long legs and an elegant demeanor that belie her humble calling, has followed in her mother's footsteps.

A normal working day starts at 8 am. There is a half-hour tea break at 10 am and lunch is taken between noon and 1:30 pm. The workers can call it a day at 4:30 pm. This year's drought has given many a hard time, especially those who are not on the permanent payroll.

I met five of them, including a 20-year-old mother who was on her first day of work after having given birth to a daughter three months ago. (Both of the young women's parents are tea pickers.) On their way from one tea estate to another they complained about not having enough leaves to pick to support their families. Looking slightly reticent, the young mother also said that as a casual laborer she is not entitled to any maternity leave.

Thangamma's daughter is free of that worry - all the tea garden workers in Bearwell are on the permanent payroll, with maternity pay of 7,000 rupees for three months. But because of the drought the estate is limited to giving her family one hour of drinking water a day. Her husband, father of the family, has just retired from his work at the tea estate but was now looking for a new job. Before we left, he placed in my hand a few sheets of his own CV and a recommendation letter given by the estate management, and scrutinized my face with expectant eyes.

Then all of us reporters ducked into several cars - the bus would not do on the narrow mountain road - and waved goodbye toward a group of tea pickers who had gathered around. One of the ladies, who stood on the fringe of the crowd with arms crossed in front of her chest, was fighting back tears.

Earlier, upon our arrival at the estate, we were welcomed by small children who presented us with braided wreaths of tea leaves. Wearing clean uniforms and abashed smile, these four to six-year-olds represent their families' futures, as their parents would probably try everything to ensure that they do not stand on the land picking tea.

An Indian freelance reporter who traveled with me, Stella Paul, briefed me on the tea history in this part of the world, including India and Sri Lanka.

"It was inextricably linked with the region's colonial past. In the case of India, the British came, found the land in Assam ideal for tea growing and started to bring in laborers."