A tea taster working at a broking house in Kolkata screens first flush Darjeeling tea. Most gardens no longer depend on auctions to sell their produce and do their own marketing and promotion. The prices for international ‘private sales’ therefore remains a secret!
Read full story: Simmering discontent over tea
Photograph by: Sayantan Bera
First flush Darjeeling tea is trucked to the factory.
Read full story: Simmering discontent over tea
Photograph by: Sayantan Bera
Tea garden workers are not informed of the prices the tea is sold for in western markets. The housing and medical facilities inside the tea estates are often rudimentary. Radha Thakuri is one of the pluckers living inside a ramshackle tin house and cannot buy her son books for the school. For her, the international success of brand Darjeeling has meant little.
Read full story: Simmering discontent over tea
The ubiquitous ‘Gorkhaland’ sign on a meat shop. The hills have seen a resurgence in the demand for separate statehood within the Indian federation. The ethnic Gorkhas, a majority in the hills, came to Darjeeling over 150 years ago, from across the border in Nepal as labourers to work in the tea gardens.
Read full story: Simmering discontent over tea
Photograph by: Sayantan Bera
Women pluckers return after a day of work. The hilly terrain makes plucking a demanding job. Women often climb for hours together to reach the plucking area.
Read full story: Simmering discontent over tea
Photograph by: Sayantan Bera
Organic tea and ‘Gorkhaland’ share window space at the iconic Keventers Café in the Darjeeling hills. Darjeeling is known for its signature teas and is a popular tourist destination, north of West Bengal.
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Photograph by: Sayantan Bera
Tea and tourism remains are the biggest employers for the Gorkhas of Darjeeling hills. Locals rue on the lack of technical colleges that can give them a chance at better jobs. An unemployed youth shoots a tourist inside a tea estate.
Read full story: Simmering discontent over tea
Photograph by: Sayantan Bera
Despite the challenges, brand Darjeeling is earning premium returns from western markets. Coupled with Organic and Fair Trade labels, Darjeeling retails between Rs 2,000 to Rs 18,000 internationally. Tea estates earn 70 percent of their incomes through exports.
Read full story: Simmering discontent over tea
Photograph by: Sayantan Bera
The prime ‘first flush’ Darjeeling tea is withered at a factory. The politically strong labor union had put an embargo on its dispatch, demanding a raise in wages and better welfare benefits for the 55,000 permanent workers of tea gardens.
Read full story: Simmering discontent over tea
Photograph by: Sayantan Bera