Thanga emerges from the tea bushes where she’s been busy plucking leaves, stopping to yank a leech from between her toes. She is in her early 60s and although officially retired, likes to come to work to keep busy. Priyadarshini tea estate in Wayanad, Kerala, translates my questions to her. Are you happy working here? She laughs and I catch the word “happy” repeated a couple of times.
Priyadarshini was not started as a commercial tea estate but as one that would offer livelihood and restore dignity to hundreds of people from the Paniya community who had been released when India abolished the practice of bonded labour in 1975. In Wayanad, it had taken the form of a century-old custom that bound the indigenous tribal people to landlords. Released from their horrific situation they had freedom but no homes, jobs or food. Some official thought of a tea estate as a solution. Wayanad, part of the Western Ghats, is a plantation district with coffee, tea and rubber grown here, and tea was a labour-intensive industry and could absorb a large community. And so the Mananthavady Tribal Plantation Cooperative was formed in 1984, with the estate owned by the cooperative, and the revenue generated used to support the community.
Thanga arrived in 1986, and remembers working to clear the land to prepare it for tea planting. Forty years later, the nearly 1,000-acre estate has half the area under tea cultivation—the rest is left untouched. I don’t get to taste any tea because the factory is being renovated. I stop by a newly constructed kitchen and dining room where the cook is preparing gruel for those who will stop by for a meal. It makes a pleasant picture, with healthy fields, neat houses, some with kitchen gardens, and children in school.
In these 40 years, children who were born here have gone on to study and find work outside of the estate. Thanga’s daughter works in Thiruvananthapuram, she says. As a rehabilitation initiative, this estate has changed the lives of the 350 families that depend on it.
On a walk through the estate, I see some bungalows. Archibald says tourism was always part of the estate’s offerings, an early attempt at additional revenue for the cooperative. While there is a need to overhaul some of these offerings, there are new additions under construction, including a cafe, a restaurant, even adventure activities like zip-lining over the slopes. There are plans for tea tours, tea experiences and tribal heritage centres. We make our way up to Vishwas Point—offered as a trekking route to tourists and the highest peak on the estate. It’s a rainy day and the clouds hang low. When they clear briefly, the view of valley below is magnificent. For a district that sees hordes of weekend tourists, tourism could well be the thing that tips the balance sheet in tea’s favour.
If Wayanad is on your itinerary, stop for a tea break at Priyadarshini. The tea of choice should be kattan chaya with a side of pazham pori.
1001 Teas is a fortnightly series about the many stories hidden in the world of tea. Aravinda Anantharaman (@AravindaAnanth1) is a tea drinker, writer and editor.