Struggles in a tea cup: An Assam woman tea garden worker narrates her journey

Have you ever wondered who has plucked those leaves from the garden while enjoying your "premium" tea? Perhaps, the answer is incidental.

However, Nirmala Topno, a tea garden worker in Assam, hopes tea connoisseurs know and understand the day-after-day drudgery involved in plucking the finest leaves from the world-famous plantations across the Northeastern state.

To understand how a usual day pans out for a tea garden worker, Topno, 48, was generous enough to allow The Federal to follow her in her modest home and the tea garden, where she works.

Working women and their household duties

Topno, who lives in Balijan, a village in Assam’s Lakhimpur district, wakes up at 4 am daily.

"This is my routine. I wake up at 4 am every day without fail since I have been working in the tea garden for the last 30 years," said the mother of three children. All her children are adults now.

"They have all left home to pursue their higher education. My eldest daughter and middle son after finishing their master's degree are working and earning well. My youngest son is pursuing his master's degree too," said Topno beaming with pride.

As a child, she always wanted to study. But it remained a dream, as Topno dropped out of school before she could finish her primary school education. “So, my husband (also a tea garden worker) and I worked as hard as possible to send our children to schools, colleges and universities,” she said. "We wanted them to have a better life," she added.

After sweeping the house and courtyard, the 48-year-old took a bath. Then she cooked breakfast and lunch for herself and her husband.

After Topno ate her breakfast —chappatis and vegetable curry —she packed lunch boxes —filled with rice and dal —for her husband and herself. In a bamboo basket, she put her lunch box, water bottle and workwear, including a piece of tarpaulin sheet (which will be explained later), and travelled 5 km to reach Chinatolia Tea Estate, where she works, on her bicycle.

The beginning of a gruelling day

It took her around 40 minutes to arrive at her workplace, a little before 8 am, when her schedule started. "I will work till 4 pm. It's an eight-hour shift," she smiled.

In between, she and her colleagues, get a break of one hour for lunch. "We don't get any extra break. Not even to go to the washroom. Moreover, we don't have toilets for us inside the garden. So we all urinate in the garden itself. Do we have a choice?" Topno asked.

It's a sunny May morning and Chinatoli Tea Estate was glowing green. It's time to put on her workwear. Over her yellow cotton saree, Topno wore a striped blue shirt and wrapped the faded blue tarpaulin sheet around her waist with the help of a rope.

"The shirt protects me from insects and pollens that drop from the trees surrounding the tea garden. The tarpaulin sheet is a shield to avoid injury from tea bushes which are likely to pierce through our legs and thighs as we work very fast and can't be mindful of the sharp twigs and stems. The sheet also keeps our lower body dry during the rains," she explained.

Topno gently added two layers of clothes on her head to hold the basket where she collected innumerable leafsets —consisting of two leaves and a bud —in a few minutes. It is a leafset, the most precious part of a tea bush, from which varieties of teas are produced. Her feet are adorned in a pair of slippers which are in tatters.

The physical woes of a frailing body

"We don't have the luxury to wear sturdy shoes or boots to protect our feet, especially from leeches, crawling everywhere during rainy days. Shoes and boots are expensive, we can't afford them. We buy cheap slippers. They need frequent replacement as we walk a lot and the landscape here is uneven and full of pebbles," she said.

Blisters, bruises and fungal infections of the feet are common among the workers. Topno showed the cracks on her heels and the fissures that had appeared on her palms. "It is because of the constant plucking of leaves that leaves behind a stain in my palms. The cut marks on my fingers are injuries I had sustained from twigs," she added.

Topno's biggest worry is her constant body aches. It is an occupational hazard as she works standing eight hours a day. "Now, multiply those hours with six days in a week. It is huge. I have been doing this job for 30 years. The pain does not allow me to sleep peacefully at night. It is getting worse with age," she rued.

Topno said that as women workers don't get breaks to drink water and attend to the call of nature, many of them have developed urinary tract infections and gynaecological issues.

Moreover, the failure to provide comfortable and humane replacement of tarpaulin sheets by the management of tea gardens has resulted in women developing body rashes and itching.

Heavy workload but low income

For her work, Topno gets Rs 250 a day. The amount varies from garden to garden but is always less than what Topno earns. The tea plantation labourers have demanded the government that the daily wage be raised to Rs 350. The failure of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party government in Assam to honour the demand has caused a lot of displeasure among the labourers.

"We work irrespective of whether it is raining or scorching hot. Our work is backbreaking as we hold a heavy basket on our heads and constantly pluck leaves.

"We deserve better and more dignified compensation for our work," Topno said. Her colleagues, both men and women, agreed with the statement.

Topno plucks between 20 and 60 kgs of tea leaves in a day. "The output depends on seasons," she informed.

According to estimates, around 70 per cent of tea garden labourers are women. They all belong to the Adivasi or tea tribe community.

The tea tribe population in Assam is around 70 lakhs or nearly 20 per cent of Assam’s 3.12 crore inhabitants. They are also one of Assam's most marginalised communities as only around 2 per cent of them own land in their names. There are around 950 tea gardens in Assam where the Adivasis reside and work.

"Assam is known for its tea. It's a major source of revenue for the state. It is an industry, we the Adivasi people, especially women, have built with our blood and sweat. Don't we deserve better payment, health facilities, education facilities for our children, land and housing rights and most importantly, respect," Topno wondered as she finished her day's work.