Editor's Note: This is part one of a two-part series examining the challenges and opportunities facing Darjeeling, one of the world's most celebrated tea-growing regions. Part two will explore workforce innovation, sustainability efforts and emerging strategies that could shape the region's future.
Cradled beneath the snow crested stillness of the Eastern Himalayas, the sloping highlands of Darjeeling, sculpted by verdant tea bushes disappearing at times into the ethereal mist that rolls down from Kanchenjunga’s icy peak, trekking through these foothills can feel like traversing from green earth into white cloud. That tea – this too, the world’s finest – can grow ensconced in a seemingly serrated horizon of emerald ridges could be regarded as an anomalous spectacle of nature. One can understand why Darjeeling came to be known as the Queen of Hills, and how the original inhabitants of the region, the Buddhist Lepcha tribe, called the tea brewed from leaf growing there, The Elixir of Happiness.
Despite the scenic vistas that are bewildering as they are divine, producing the Lepcha’s elixir is proving to become increasingly challenging. According to a whitepaper, recently submitted to the Indian government by the Indian Tea Association, production has plummeted from around 10 million kilograms at the turn this century to just 5.6 million kilos a mere twenty-five years later. Over the same period, the total cultivation area has dropped by 609 hectares due primarily to landslides, bush loss from inclement weather, and garden closures.
The paradoxical nature of the Darjeeling story – that Darjeeling is either dying or breaking sales records – likely figured into the impetus behind the International Tea Conference held at Salesian College in Sonada, Darjeeling District called “Darjeeling: Leaf, Life, and Legacy” this past spring. With generous support from sponsors such as Tea Promoters (India) Pvt. Ltd., Rimpocha Tea [operating under T’Classic (Darjeeling)] Pvt. Ltd., and Bandan Bank Ltd., to hold stakeholders across the Darjeeling tea spectrum including people from industry, academics, and NGOs representing workers and women, convened for the first time in Darjeeling to discuss its future as a tea-growing region. The conference was distinct in, as Jeewan Prakash Gurung, Whole-time Director at Tea Promoters India and conference delegate, mentioned, other such events tended to be restricted to narrow administrative, agricultural, or technical topics. By contrast, the ITC combined the sociological, psychological, and personal realities of tea production.
The pessimism that has grown out statistics referenced in the TBI’s whitepaper to which much of the media has clung, prognosticate doom and gloom for the region.
Such accounts, along with garden closures, breed uncertainty that hangs in the fog for the people of Darjeeling, in sharp contrast to the to the invigorating airy mist that characterizes the region. It’s no wonder that the younger generation aspire to jobs in urban centers or offshore in gulf states like the UAE, Saudi Arabia, or Qatar. That wages in Darjeeling are among the lowest in tea-growing regions only amplifies concerns over future livelihoods. That said, according to Rohini Subba, a researcher at Salesian College and conference presenter, those who leave for greener pastures, often find working conditions in such places to be worse than at the tea gardens. Some return but the promise of higher wages continues to reduce Darjeeling’s workforce, locally born and bred, year after year.
Erratic weather and increasing temperatures caused by the global climate crisis has also affected Darjeeling tea as it has other tea-producing regions in the world. Presenter, and environmental engineer, R.K. Ghosh showed data to that effect: since the 1950s, average temperature has increased by 1.5°C, and average rainfall has increased 80 cm (31.5 inches) per year. While this may not seem like much over such a long period, it’s the spikes on the weather graphs that are causing the most damage to the harvests. A prolonged heatwave in 2023 saw temperatures on tea gardens climbing towards 30 degrees Celsius in June/July. I was staying at a Darjeeling tea estate then with my wife, and it was the first time we had to use a ceiling fan in the district to sleep at night. The altitude where we stayed was around 4,000 feet above sea level – a climate zone known as the Highland Sub-Tropical Zone. Summer temperatures typically range between 18° to 22° Celsius so experiencing such heat at that altitude was unnerving.
Moreover, Ghosh identified that the monsoons as lasting longer. Whereas the sustained rain of monsoon spells used to last 3-5 days, over the last five years, Ghosh says their duration has increased to 5-7 days, which is often too much rain for a good harvest. The added spells coming at the end of June brings ultra-premium second flush harvesting season to an earlier close as overgrowth can quickly turn small premium leaves those more akin to lower quality Monsoon Flush.
Cumulatively, the factors mentioned above have contributed to the narrative that Darjeeling tea is in danger of extinction. Indeed, a headline in The Economist (no less) in 2022 read, “Why Darjeeling Tea May Face Extinction.” It couldn’t be more on the nose – or more sensational. A similar article in a prominent Indian magazine, published last year, led with the headline: “There’s Trouble Brewing in Darjeeling.” Trouble, indeed,…with the media for only telling what’s selling; one could cite an array of others.
At the same time, record-breaking prices for small artisan batches of specialty tea as exemplified by the whopping $5,000 price per kilogram of a 10 kg batch of autumn silver tips tea featured in our article, Darjeeling Tea Master Sells Record-Breaking Tea, give the impression that Darjeeling tea companies are amassing enormous piles of silver and gold. Around the same time, the Kolkata daily, The Telegraph featured this headline: “Sonata in a cup for $5,000: Tea crafted by Rajah Banerjee fetches a record price in London.” Two years earlier, a similar article led with this headline: “Darjeeling ‘First Flush’ sells at record price, all previous records broken.”
This begs the question: how can the Darjeeling tea industry be in danger of extinction whilst tea is being sold for such astronomical prices?
The answer lies in the reality that high-priced and record-breaking teas are sold in such small batches that doesn’t ‘move the needle’ in respect to the overall profitability of Darjeeling tea. But such stories make headlines in the mainstream media almost as frequently as the ‘doom and gloom’ pieces. Sensationalism sells papers, garners views, and generates interest. “If it bleeds it leads,” one may recall is the media’s time-tested modus operandi. Hence, raising alarm bells draws intrigue just as exorbitant pricing piques curiosity.
While stories announcing record-braking prices make news, they aren’t indicative of the reality that the average wholesale price of Darjeeling tea (around Rs. 600-800/kg or $6.31 to $8.42 per kilogram averaged over all four seasonal harvests, annually) is woefully lower than what it would take keep many tea estates from losing money.
Shiv Kumar Saria, Managing Director Soongachi Tea Industries Pvt. Ltd., who made a presentation on “Miniaturization of Tea Production in Darjeeling,” which will be covered in Part II of the series, said some interactions he has had with buyers from Europe have left a sour taste in his mouth. “These foreigners come and say the workers in Darjeeling make the same amount as those in Dooars but Darjeeling sells for thousands of rupees and Dooars tea for a few hundred. How is that fair? Isn’t this exploitation? What they don’t realize is that the ‘thousands of rupees’ tea sold on export is a small amount compared to the massive amount sold in Dooars, which is why Dooars Gardens typically are more profitable than Darjeeling gardens – the money is made on volume, which is huge. They also don’t understand that it is far more costly to run a garden in the steep winding hills of Darjeeling where ample diesel fuel is required for generators for when the power goes out, and irrigation is needed due to water scarcity, than the flat plains of Dooars and other plains gardens. Then, after lecturing us on the inequities, they show their concern for Darjeeling tea workers by buying cheap Nepal tea. I find this sanctimony hard to take,” Saria fumes.
While buyers have every right to express themselves and buy according to their preference, Saria is not wrong about popular misconception that all Darjeeling tea is sold at premium prices. Typically, premium Darjeeling is exported. However, this cash crop, has come down by 46 percent in recent years. The Crush Tear Curl or CTC tea produced in Terai/Dooars, Assam, and elsewhere, made from a different species than most Darjeeling tea and which is processed totally differently, is in tremendous demand, domestically. With strong liquor-releasing granules, a small amount boiled in a milk broth of sugar and spices to forms traditional chai, which is the most consumed beverage in India after water. And it’s comparatively cheap: While premium Assam CTC can sell wholesale for around Rs. 400-500/kg, Dooars/Terai CTC is comparatively cheaper, sometimes going for half that price or less. By contrast, Darjeeling tea, imbibed without milk and usually sans sweetener is an acquired taste for a palate that appreciates complexity. Demand for Darjeeling tea in the domestic market is minuscule compared to strong syrupy chai. India’s domestic market for tea is very price-sensitive which is why customers are fooled into purchasing tea sold as Darjeeling but adulterated with Nepal, Terai, and Kangra Valley tea. They typically can’t tell the difference between pure and adulterated Darjeeling with the latter being easier on the wallet. Darjeeling tea companies make scant profit from domestic sales except for relatively affluent connoisseur buyers who can appreciate quality and is willing to pay for it.
The labor issue amalgamated with consequences of climate change – erratic weather conditions, rising temperatures, which have brought new pests and diseases to the region – have birthed a myriad of challenges that the Darjeeling tea industry has never faced.
New Government Interest
The only major stakeholder excluded from the conference was government, apparently to avoid any political bias. However, it’s not as if government wasn’t aware of the conference and what was discussed: In June, the newly elected Chief Minister of the State of West Bengal (where Darjeeling is located) announced allocation of Rs. 3.13 billion (approximately, roughly USD 33 million) for tea worker relief in the state. This would also include the Terai tea region in the plains adjacent to Darjeeling.
“It is indeed good news for the residents of tea estates located in Darjeeling hills, Terai and the Dooars. The central government has acted on our proposal and has approved a sum of ₹313 crore. It would be entirely spent for the welfare of tea workers and their families and a slew of tasks will be carried out in the tea belt,” Chief Minister, Suvendu Adhikary stated at a presser on September 19th.
‘Great! So, labour problem solved’, one might think. Not quite: throwing money at the homeless has never eliminated poverty. The problems, as raised by certain presenters at the conference, are more complex and to a large degree systemic, rooted in the colonial rule of the British in India.
A Brief History
Contrary to what many might think, Camelia sinsensis var. sinensis or the Darjeeling variety of tea plant was never indigenous to IndIa. The only indigenous tea found growing in India was Camelia sinensis var. assamica – or Assam tea, cultivars of which have been planted in various tea-growing regions, including Darjeeling.
The original Darjeeling tea plant is also known as China Bush conveying its origins in India’s equally ancient neighbor and historical rival.
In the Western World, subjects of the British Empire became avid tea drinkers – but only after the Portuguese princess Catherine of Braganza popularized tea in the British royal court after marrying King Charles II in 1662. Tea in large quantities was only available in China. So, the British East India Company was granted a monopoly by the King to import tea from China. It fast became so popular, that the capital inflow to the empire is credited with spurring the industrial revolution.
While the appetite in Britain for tea was immense and still growing by the 1800s, the Emperor of the Qing dynasty claimed that China didn’t need anything in trade from Britain except silver and hence, demanded payment strictly in the precious metal. Eventually, British reserves of silver became scarce. To address their lack of silver, the East India Company found something that they coud sell for silver: that’s how official British policy of opium smuggling to China through its islands was born.
Observing the emergence of a drug-addicted population, the Chinese Emperor banned opium import in 1800 and by 1838, it was punishable by death. The Qing dynasty strictures on the opium trade culminated in rising hostilities with the British Empire leading to the First Opium War in 1839, threatening the continuity of the tea supply.
Meanwhile, in the 1840s as a colonial bid by the British East India Company to break China's monopoly on tea production, Dr. Archibald Campbell, a government physician transferred to Darjeeling as its first superintendent, brought a handful of Chinese tea seeds from where he was experimenting with them in the Kumaon Hills (in the Western Himalayas) and planted them in the garden of his residence in Darjeeling. Dr. Campbell’s horticultural trial proved an astonishing success: the high altitude, acidic soil, misty slopes, and alternating sun and rain of the Eastern Himalayas fostered tea bushes with an unusually delicate, floral aroma.
While Campbell proved the region's climate could nurture the crop, the British still lacked the high-grade planting stock and trade secrets necessary for large-scale cultivation. So, in 1848, the East India Company dispatched Scottish botanist, aptly named, Robert Fortune on a covert expedition deep into forbidden regions the Qing Dynasty. Disguised in traditional Chinese dress with a shaved head and a braided queue, Fortune slipped through the tea-producing mountains of Fujian and Zhejiang. He smuggled out over 20,000 viable tea plants and seedlings in airtight miniature terrariums called Wardian cases. He also brought tea seeds and an experienced team of Chinese tea masters who understood the exact mechanics of plucking, withering, and oxidation – and who were convinced to surreptitiously cross into India to work for the British despite it being a death penalty offence decreed by the emperor.
A vital portion of Fortune’s smuggled stock was routed to the Himalayan foothills, directly accelerating Campbell’s early trials. By the mid-1850s, experimental patches transitioned into commercial enterprises. Large-scale tea estates such as Steinthal, Happy Valley, Tukvar, Aloobari and Makaibari and were established, clearing forested ridges into terraced gardens tended to by largely by migrant Nepali-origin Gorkha tribes. By the late 19th century, the region had earned worldwide recognition with its unique muscatel-flavored second flush harvest hailed as the "Champagne of Teas."
Following India's independence in 1947 from the British Empire, ownership of the estates transitioned British to Indian hands (except for the Goodricke Group under which two of Darjeeling’s most prestigious gardens, namely Castleton and Margaret’s Hope, operate, having their parent company based in the UK).
In 2004, Darjeeling tea achieved a major milestone by acquiring India's very first Geographical Indication (GI) tag created by World Trade Organization, legally guarding its provenance against counterfeit blends worldwide. (Champagne, for instance is also GI protected.) Today, officially 87 tea gardens operate in Darjeeling. That said, a few of the 87 operate as single gardens such as Maldiram and Jungpana as well as Sungma and Turzum while others have closed such as Ambootia. So, the number has likely diminished to 63 gardens, according to conference president, Binod Kumar Mohan, Chairman of Tea Promoters India.
The Colonial Hangover
“We inherited a master-slave culture on tea estates that had been operating for over a century,” exclaimed Gurung. TPI where he is whole-time director owns and operates five tea estates in Darjeeling. “The question is, how can we change the way estates are operated to give workers more of a stake without compromising the quality control and operational standards of the estate?” he ponders.
Gurung refers to the hierarchical managerial style tantamount to managed governance of the entire community of workers first instituted by the British during colonial times. Owners were oft referred to as “Planters” though generations have gone by since any owner (save maybe former Makaibari owner and founder of T’Classic, Rajah Banerjee) has planted a tea bush recently. They had wide discretion in hiring, firing, disciplining, at times even evicting workers. The British and their Indian early successors provided only such basic amenities as were needed to keep the workers dependent upon the ‘Planters’.
“Even in my time, which was the heyday of Darjeeling, nobody dared even speak a word that was contrary to the Burra Saheb [Estate General Manager],” quips an octogenarian retired Darjeeling Garden Manager turned consultant, almost nostalgically. He had the sense to be asked not to be named in the article but went on to remark on how, today, workers are “upstart” and “don’t want to work,” citing absentee rates as high as 40 to 50 percent on any given day.
A New Way of Operating
Pranb Mukhia, retired garden manager at two acclaimed Darjeeling estates namely Thurbo and Castleton, who was invited to the conference but couldn’t make it, says the future of Darjeeling lies in cooperatives. “The companies are losing money; workers feel their wages are insufficient; so, they want to find opportunities elsewhere; and it’s a perennial struggle around bonus time between worker expectations and what gardens pay out. Better to let the workers run the gardens and the company can take care of processing, packaging, and marketing. That way, workers can also be owners,” he says.
Banerjee, former owner of Makaibari Tea Estate, one of the oldest in Darjeeling and founder of T’Classic under which Rimpocha Tea, a collective of small growers, also believes in this vision of Darjeeling tea in the future, likening growing tea to milking cows: “You see, if you force someone to milk a cow, it’ll give you a certain amount of milk – BUT, if you give someone a cow, he will be able to garner exponentially more milk,” Banerjee says. “It’s all about cutting those strings. When someone is free to do something on their own, they will work harder, be more innovative and creative, find a way to make things work. He’ll be more productive and end up with a far greater output. If he’s simply a marionette of an absentee landlord – how can he be expected passionate about what he’s doing? So, we must cut those strings!”
Vinayak Malla and Michael Zdziarski, faculty at the University of Warsaw presented a paper on Rimpocha as a bottom-up approach to tea production. Estabished following Banerjee’s exit from Makaibari after a 2017 fire destroyed his 160-year-old ancestral bungalow the collective draws its name from the concept of a spiritual "reincarnated avatar." It functions as Banerjee’s vision to democratize tea production and build an agrarian model centered on community sovereignty rather than corporate hierarchy.
At the heart of the initiative is a hands-on mentorship program for small, independent tea farmers, many of whom cultivate marginal, fragmented plots across abandoned or neglected hamlets in Darjeeling District and elsewhere in North Bengal. Historically, small growers have been at the mercy of large bought-leaf factories and intermediaries who dictate low farm-gate prices for green leaves.
Banerjee stepped in to mentor these farmers directly, training them in the holistic organic and biodynamic agricultural philosophies inspired by Dr. Rudolf Steiner that Banerjee refined over four decades at Makaibari. By teaching regenerative soil practices, pesticide-free pest management, and careful plucking techniques, he has helped growers produce artisanal-grade leaf capable of fetching premium prices rather than being blended away into generic commodity batches
“We are blessed with having an excellent cultivar,” Banerjee is quick to mention. “It all comes from the quality of the plant.”
Beyond cultivation, the Rimpocha experiment tackles the structural bottleneck of processing and market access. The initiative has organized growers into decentralized clusters supported by micro-artisanal processing units. Instead of relying on conventional auction houses, Rimpocha acts as a direct-to-consumer bridge, utilizing digital platforms to link small growers straight to international buyers and conscious consumers across Europe and beyond – even Australia (at my recommendation). Because women comprise the vast majority of pluckers in the hills, the experiment places particular emphasis on female leadership, ensuring women control household earnings, hold governance stakes, and receive equitable returns.
The professors concluded that, “Overall, the Rimpocha case highlights that bottom-up sustainability can offer a viable and scalable pathway for strengthening livelihoods, resilience, and sustainable value creation among STGs [Small Tea Growers] in the Darjeeling tea sector.”
Banerjee’s work with small growers the kind of approach, which seems to have turned the colonial model on its head – but small growers aren’t burden with the overhead of tea estates. He has yet to re-jig the estate model. He may well get a chance to do so as sources close to Banerjee and one of the sponsors of the tea conference, say he may soon be found soon at the helm of another tea estate – another result of bringing people together at the conference.
JP Gurung’s remarks on finding a way to empower workers without compromising on the standards developed by the tea estate model, must be seen in the context of Nepal, which may be a lesson to those championing the small grower model of what not to do. India’s Himalayan neighbor grows far more tea than Darjeeling, but it has hardly any estates. Rather, the tea is grown on an abundance of small tea farms whose owners sell their plucked leaf to central factories for processing. The workers tend to be iterant and have scant training. According to an article in the Katmandu Post, tea plantation workers in Nepal face strict daily harvesting quotas, including having to pick 30 kg of leaves per shift, with supervisors docking wages for failing to meet weight targets or arriving late. The practice continues despite a minimum wage law being in effect.
It is impossible to maintain quality plucking standards under such haphazard means of picking and making tea – especially conditions exist such that workers must pluck as fast and as much as possible – which is why Nepal tea is rarely single estate; it’s almost entirely blended leaf. If Darjeeling estates are broken up into small farms, one risk involved would be seeing a similar deterioration of plucked leaf standard.
Last year, the Australian Broadcasting Company, in an exposé documentary, revealed that in Sri Lanka, similar quotas exist but the quota is lower than Nepal’s being 18kg per shift. Still, wages are docked – even at Fair-Trade certified gardens and other ethically certified gardens – for coming in below quota. These draconian performance expectations echo the master-slave relationship to which Gurung referred.
By contrast Darjeeling, tea garden owners must pay employees a wage set by the government of West Bengal and as per the Plantation Labour Act of 1951, provide health care benefits as well as housing and pensions. The newly elected state government appears to be taking enforcement seriously as evidenced by the July 26th arrest of Govind Garg (also referred to in earlier warrants alongside his son and director Saurav Garg), proprietor of Siri Longview Tea and Agro Limited, which operates Longview and Highland Tea Estates in Darjeeling for failing to deposit roughly Rs. 120 million (or approximately USD 1.3 million) in Provident Fund [Pension Fund] arrears, alongside unpaid bonuses, leave travel allowance, and outstanding wages to employees. Only time will tell if the government continues to advocate on behalf of workers.
Salesian College researchers such as Rohini Subba and Sumit presented their view that this isn’t enough. They contend that absenteeism isn’t due to laziness (as the consultant quoted above mentioned) and attrition solely attributable to tea garden workers imagining a better life in the cities. The wages of workers, they say, needs to be raised substantially to provide a proper subsistence income. Wages have not kept pace with India’s high inflation over the past two decades particularly during the era of the previous government of Manmohan Singh, during which inflation had breached 10%, even rising as high as 12% per year.
Owners say that 20 years ago worker minimum wages were just Rs.69/day, compared to Rs.250 per day, currently – amounting to an aggregate increase of 329%. The math fails to account for a 12 percent clawback for pensions, lowering the take home wage to Rs.220. When annualized, the 20-year increase is just 8.3% per year. Factoring inflation into the equation, the annual raise is barely two percent per year. Owners are quick to mention that when pension contributions and annual mandatory bonuses are included, the real daily wage rises to around Rs. 340/day or more in some cases – almost Rs. 400/day, and this isn’t widely reported in the press and taken for granted by employees. It’s easy to understand why. The difference isn’t something that workers can readily spend on a day-to-day basis. They may see experience a benefit down the line or when in medical need – but it isn’t tangible to them when they get paid.
When a carpenter can make Rs. 400-500, or a hospitality worker a few rupees more or less, there exists little incentive for the young to aspire to life on a tea plantation. Better to wear a nice uniform, even if one is washing dishes or cleaning rooms.
Subba asserts that if the wages were Rs. 500 per day, Darjeeling tea gardens would successfully compete with alternatives. Unless the tea companies can compete with wages offered in urban centers, she contends, a natural labor drain to the cities will occur. “Lack of opportunity, and economic necessity pushes them away from the gardens,” says Subba. “It’s not that they intrinsically want to leave their homes.”
The prescience of Subba’s position lies in the fact that, aside from packaged goods with a maximum retail price, perishable goods and other staples, transportation, and logistics is higher in the hills than the adjacent plains area.
Subba grew up just outside Margaret’s Hope Tea Estate, owned by Goodricke Group and standing as the largest and perhaps most famous of Darjeeling’s tea estates with first and second flush tea attracting high prices at auction. “My mother was employed at the estate plucking tea and my father worked in the factory. Still, they were able to save to provide me with an education. Still, being educated hasn’t made me want to work far away. That’s because we are a community, and we feel a remarkable attachment to the tea garden,” Subba emphasized with no small measure of emotion. Subba believes that with better wage incentives and investment in the community, those who have left and find themselves living in cramped quarters sharing washrooms and bathing facilities with sometimes over a hundred other workers especially in the middle east where it is well-known how poorly workers from South Asia are treated, may be enticed back home where they can breathe clean air, have ample space in which to live, speak their own language and reconnect with family and friends.
Subba’s mother has been ill, lately, with a heart-related ailment requiring hospitalization. She believes this to be a consequence of the hard life her mother has had. “My mother had to complete her morning household chores before leaving for the tea garden,” Subba recounted. The leaf plucking shift begins at 7 am, and with a half hour break for lunch ends in the early afternoon. “She had to return and cook dinner,” Subba recalled, adding: “Of course, a tea garden family cannot afford domestic help. So, she also had to finish cleaning and other chores – and then do it all over the next day.” While Subba said her father also worked hard at the garden, being part of a patriarchal society, he wasn’t required to do any work around the home. Still, she is thankful that he was not like other men from her community who are caught in the cycle of alcoholism and spend most evenings drinking.
“In many Gorkha families, the women bring in the household income and the men layabout playing cards, sometimes gambling, and drinking, of course,” a member of the worker community who had also come to the conference, claimed.
What about finding ways to hold on to the dwindling number of workers from Darjeeling? I ask the people from the local community living near Margaret’s Hope whether offering the workers a small percentage of the shares of the company will incentivize workers to come back to the estate as it may give them a stake in the garden that they can pass down to future generations. They laughed. “Goodricke will never offer us the tiniest piece of the company,” said a community member. “But yes… if someone with vision like you were in-charge and offered some kind of package like this, it may well bring back enough of our young people to maintain the plucking standards of the garden – and revitalize our community in the process.”
Subba is sentimental when she looks back at her life on the garden: “You know, at the conference when we got the chance to taste the freshly made first flush of the spring season…it brought tears to my eyes. When I lived practically at Margaret’s Hope Tea Garden, neither my family nor I got the opportunity to taste the tea that my mother was plucking, that my father was helping to make. I think it would have really meant something to the workers if the company said, ‘here taste what a heavenly thing you have helped to create!’ – probably it didn’t occur to them because, how could mere workers appreciate the tea sold to the cream of society?”
Lepcha’s research centers on the status of women. In her presentation to the conference, while mentioning that women are officially offered the same opportunities as men, the reality is that their work is considered ‘unskilled’ while that of men is considered ‘skilled,’ they are rarely praised, promoted, or given the mechanisms by which they can uplift their circumstantial positions, she argued. At the same time, she seemed to suggest that employment opportunities are lacking in tea estates when other researchers and tea garden owners assert the opposite: a scarcity of labor.
In this, the presenter may have been referring to a dearth of the kind of jobs desired by tea workers. Unfortunately, the format of the conference with simultaneous sessions prevented attendees from being exposed fully to the material presented. When contacted for clarification, Lepcha and all but two of the Salesian researchers did not respond to repeated requests for comment, interview, or access to their research.
The vice-principal of the college, also a presenter, responded to my requests, committing to an interview promising to send me his current and past research papers. Unfortunately, he didn’t follow through on any of this. Despite numerous follow-up emails sent by me, they went unanswered – as did phone calls after our initial conversation in which he made the commitments stated. Contrary to the openness demonstrated by Subba, guardedness exhibited by other researchers served as an ironic twist to a conference intended to bring people together to share knowledge and discuss ideas. After it was over, certain academics decided to cocoon back at their colleges. It left one with the feeling of being lectured to by elites who were only too keen to return to their ivory towers.
In the end, Subba turned out to be the only Salesian presenter who gave me an interview and was refreshingly free with her thoughts was. The conversation was truly enlightening as described above. She even expounded on the community saying that most outsiders see the people of Darjeeling as a monolith but in the people of Darjeeling lies considerable diversity. She informed me that aside from there being the Lepcha tribes, which are mainly Buddhist with Christian converts that the Gorkha Tribes – of which she is a member – are diverse, not only consisting of Hindus and Christian converts but also stratified as a people into clans which also practice their traditional tribal religion. She mentioned that her last name corresponds to her clan (which is associated with the Limbu indigenous people).
India being a society in which DEI quotas drive employment in government at various levels and places in colleges, including the professions like medicine, have motivated non-Sanskritic origin Gorkhas to claim categorization as Scheduled Tribes, for which quotas exist. Indeed, in an article published in India’s premier social studies journal, the Economic and Political Weekly, Swatahsiddha Sarkar. Professor at the Centre for Himalayan Studies, University of North Bengal wrote: “In addition to the Bhutias, Lepchas, Sherpas and Yolmos – the already designated [or DEI reserved] tribes of Darjeeling district since Independence – majority of the hill communities today are busy both in claiming and establishing their claims of being a reserved tribe of the region.”
The so called “higher” or “twice born” caste Gorkhas with names like Bahun and Chetri, exist alongside those bearing the last name Mukhia, which is derived from “leader” – those who had historically positions of authority within Gorkha society. Other names like Gurung are subdivided into sixteen clans.
Given government dispensation to previously marginalized groups, the relative social movement of the above members of Darjeeling society has been fluid over time. All of this is to emphasize that understanding the community dynamics will be essential if cooperatives are established in the future to replace the tea estate model of operations. It’s easy in theory to say, “let’s divide up the tea estate and give it to the workers” – but in a practical sense, who gets what part? Significantly, which tribe, caste, or clan, gets which portion of the estate and how much of it. Elevation and facing impact the quality of tea plucked in each harvest. When one considers these questions, the task may prove to be far more complex on the ground!
The tone for the conference was set by Chief Guest and Chairman of Bandhan Group, Chandra Sekhar Ghosh whose address on opening day focused on his experiences early on in establishing Bandhan Bank, initially, as a microfinance institution in which he mainly lent money to impoverished women. These women, he said, were small-scale entrepreneurs – and their practical zeal for building their businesses, be it selling produce or weaving clothes, taught him a great deal about entrepreneurship, Ghosh explained. Given that so much of the activity at Darjeeling tea estates occurs under the ambit of women, he opined that the focus of presenters ought to be to find a way to empower them and in so doing, the entire region he felt could be uplifted.
In total, 34 academic papers were presented across eight technical sessions. Themes explored included: environment and sustainability; tea communities; literature and gender; labor; and technology.