A Tea Garden Party
Abha is going to Darjeeling with Ma and Baba.
In the train, just before bedtime, Baba pours hot water from a flask into cups and dips tea bags to make tea.
“Aaaaah! So refreshing,” says Ma.
“What is tea?
Is it a leaf?"
"Where do those black things in the bag come from?” asks Abha.
“Aren’t leaves supposed to be green?”
“You’ll find out when we reach Darjeeling. Just you wait,” her parents say.
Abha hates being told to wait.
The train takes them to Siliguri.
There, they hop into a car.
“Look, Abha, those are tea gardens!” says Ma.
The car stops. Abha wants to stretch her legs. They can see women in the tea gardens plucking leaves and putting them into baskets tied to their heads.
“Two-leaves-and-a-bud makes the perfect pluck”
says Sumitra Tamang, while plucking tea leaves.
“Picking tea is hard work!” says Ma.
Wait, the car is taking another smaller road. It is entering through the gates of a tea factory. So that was the plan!
The leaves gathered by Sumitra didi and her friends are packed in bags. In the withering room they are placed in large trays. Warm air blows over them to dry them out. This can go on for 18 hours!
Off they go to the rolling table, where the leaves are twisted and torn for about 40 minutes.
“Mmm,” Abha closes her eyes, “I like this smell of leaves!”
Next comes oxidation. The leaves are left to air dry further and darken.
“These tea leaves look so different from the ones in the garden,” says Abha.
In the dryer machine the tea is roasted for about 20 minutes.
“I thought only cakes are baked and chicken roasted. Now I know even tea goes through a similar process,” says Abha.
“Now it must be sorted,” says Ma. Tea is divided into various types –
The bigger the size of the leaves, the higher that tea’s price. Darjeeling tea is one of the most famous and expensive teas in the world. “A hundred grams of white Darjeeling tea can cost as much as a piece of gold jewellery,” says Ma.
By now everyone is hungry and thirsty.
They sit around a table and order tea.
Tea leaves are placed in a pot. Hot water is poured over them and the leaves are steeped for about five minutes. Then the cuppa is ready!
Abha sips her tea and tells Ma, “I was so thirsty.
This is the best tea party!”
TEATIME FACTS
In India, 1,400 million kilograms of tea are produced per year. India is the second largest producer of tea in the world, after China being the first.
Where does so much tea grow?
India has 1,470 big tea plantations and 210,000 small holdings covering 600,000 hectares, where tea is grown. Out of this, Darjeeling has 87 big tea gardens and some smaller holdings.
Who grows our tea?
Nearly 3 million workers are employed in tea gardens and factories in India.
A large number of tea workers are casual labourers without full-time jobs and regular pay.
That’s unfair!
Can that change?
Yes! Some tea gardens and factories – mostly the bigger ones – follow Fairtrade standards and offer their workers full-time jobs, reasonable pay, free rations and a place to stay.
(Source of information: G Boriah, former director of tea development, Tea Board of India)