A trip to a small tea garden : Bamonjuli

road from Naamkhola to Bamunjuli

    The second part of my post :Magh-bihu-2012-fish-catching-meji-and a sagolir puwali
Assam is the world’s largest tea-growing region .Tea industry in Assam is about 170 yrs old playing a significant role in state economy . It produces approx 51% of the tea produced in country and about 1/6th of the tea produced in world.The distinctive black teas from Assam is known for its body, briskness, malty flavor, and strong, bright color. Assam teas, or blends containing Assam, are often sold as “breakfast” teas . The Assam tea bush grows in a lowland region. Assam mainly exports its tea to Europe ,Middle East countries and also to Pakistan ,Eygpt ,Israel and Japan. Most of the large tea gardens are located in the Upper Assam and Southern Barak Valley region. . I always
wanted to write a post on one such lush green tea garden with a detailed account on how things work in there BUT my post today is based on a trip to a very small tea garden which  is in its initial stage .Small tea growers are also contributing to the develpment of tea industry .My brother-in-law is one such small tea grower.

Two years back he bought this tea garden which is situated at Bamonjuli a village around 40km  away from our native village.His garden shares the border with the famous Borengajuli Tea Estate.The above picture is of Borengajuli Tea Estate. Borengajuli Estate produces the most fabulous graden teas popular all over the world .Read more on it here and here at Culinary Teas .

 

Bamunjuli is about an hour drive away from our village Naamkhola.The road condition is not that good. Kanu da made this double storey house as a safety measure because of regular wild elephant visits .

It is a very very quite village. Most of the villagers here work in gardens as labourers .

This is Kanu da’s nursery where they grow and store small tea plants.He usually sells the tea leaf to the tea auction centre of the area like all other small tea growers but recently a Canadian delegate visited his garden and showed their interest in buying organic-tea directly from him.The delegate had come to visit mostly small tea growers of Assam.He is also keen on growing green tea and is working on it.

      This is how a tea flower looks like.

These are the homes of the villagers he bought the garden land from . They are the one who keep an eye on the garden in his absence.

An educational tour for the kids by their dear uncle . Kids come up with different stories everytime they see me sipping my tea .

This house belongs to a comparatively rich villager .

 The village has a govt school but most of the kids  don’t go there. Kanu da tried to convince the villagers to encourage their kids to go to school but it made no difference. Most of the kids here are sent to the  city and nearby towns to work as domestic helps.

 A view from the house .Watering and taking care of the trees is a tough work . Soon the tea leave plucking season will start and a lot of activity is expected here.

Kids had fun running up and down . My son got some tea leaves tucked in his jacket pocket for me knowing how much I love tea.

To protect their crops and houses villagers use these arrows to chase away the wild elephants .They put fire on arrow and shoot it into the air when elephants attack.There are many sad stories related to animal poaching but because of legal reasons I can’t share it here.

After lunch the group returned to Naamkhola ,had tea and refreshments. Bablu and Puja helped in packing sweets ,home made pithas , curd/yogurt for me and eggs for their cousins.

 After a tearful farewell they came back to Guwahati.