A Walk Through a Tea Estate of Assam: Lost in Tranquility

Greetings fellow Hivians! Have you ever visited a tea garden or a tea estate? Well I come from a place which produces more than 52% of the countries total tea production. What if I tell you that this place accounts for only 2.4% of the country's land mass and interestingly produced more than 650 million kilogram of tea in the fiscal year 2023. Pretty amazing right?

You will see a tea garden mostly wherever you go in Assam. China, India and Sri Lanka, all these three Asian countries are rated as world's largest tea exporting countries. A non Asian country, Kenya is also one of the largest tea exporter in the world.

Mainly tea farming is done by two types of bodies here in Assam, some large scale companies and some farmers/individuals in small scale who own tea gardens and sends the tea to these large scale bodies. In Assam, more than 40% or may be more tea production is carried by these small scale bodies. This is one of the reason why you'll get to see tea gardens almost everywhere.

This tea estate is owned by India's one of the biggest industrialist Sir Ratan Tata. So, this estate is a unit of Tata tea.

Tea estates in Assam typically undergo several flushes or harvests throughout the year, with the majority of the production occurring during the peak harvesting seasons, which usually coincide with the monsoon and post-monsoon periods.

In Assam, tea is more than just a drink; it's a cultural cornerstone that brings people together. The age-old tradition of the "saah" (in local language) ceremony embodies this spirit, where tea is brewed with love and shared among friends and family. It's a ritual of connection, fostering bonds that transcend time and place.

The harvest season begins around March and can finish as late as November. Sometimes goes till mid of December. After that, tea bushes are pruned. These have to be pruned at regular intervals because it is convenient for picking the tea leaves on a regular basis. Also, pruning helps in bring fresh leaves and buds on the tea plant.

A walk through the estate brings peace and calm immediately. As we are away from the plucking season, so there's no rush and lies complete tranquility inside a tea estate.