Our cup of tea | Under Cover

PUSHPA ARYAL

One fine morning, at a WAVE meeting while drinking chiya, we decided to find out first-hand where tea leaves came from. So off we headed to the beautiful Antu valley of Illam where we went undercover as tea-pickers.

A few young Illamelis joined me on my tea-picking mission. Finding an open tea estate during Dasain was not easy. When we did find one, the owners were overjoyed as tea grows fast and the usual tea-pickers were on holiday. The estate we went to work in was at 5,000 ft and on the way to the famous spot where people flock to watch the sunrise from Antu Danda or Dipendra Shikhar. Tea-pickers start at dawn but we were allowed to dawdle as long as we did some work.

We put on plastic beruwas, picked up dokos and namlos and gingerly made our way up the steep paths. The supervisor showed us how to pick tea leaves—you aim for the two-leafed fresh green tips with your hand positioned at a certain angle. The thumb, middle and index fingers require the dexterity of a pianist. It's an art that takes months of practice but we had only a day. How the leaves are picked determine the quality of the manufactured product and what you get paid. Most tea pickers are as quick as lightning, aiming for fresh leaves and throwing them into the doko on their backs in the blink of an eye. As easy as it sounds, we soon found out otherwise.

The precision required to pick tea is one challenge, throwing it into the doko on your back every time is another altogether. As the day wears on, the weight on your back (sustained by your head with a namlo) grows heavier. The heat of the sun does not help, no matter how beautiful the day is or how clear Kanchenjunga appears on the horizon. If it rains, tea-pickers hold an umbrella in one hand and continue picking with the other. You might get bitten by leeches. It's a good idea to wear gumboots.

We picked and picked. Some leaves fell into our doko and some didn't. After what seemed like a tremendously long time, the supervisor told us that we'd picked enough. So we happily headed back, the doko on our back weighing down on us. The estate owners weren't too impressed when we showed them the result of our day's work. We'd picked the leaves carefully enough but the quantity was worth only Rs 2.

It was a good thing that the nearby factory was closed for Dasain. The factory, which manufactures and distributes tea, pays Rs 5 per kg. An average tea picker earns Rs 200 in one day, which means 40 kg of leaves. We could only imagine how fast they work. We were miserable tea pickers indeed, but next time we drink tea, we'll toast it to the tea-pickers who work hard to make the brew such a delight.