Spend a day with tea pluckers

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. When I see the image of a woman tea plucker—versions of it are used by businesses in their marketing of tea—it rather bothers me. Perhaps it’s because when you walk into a tea estate and see women at work, they smile in greeting, they allow you to photograph them, and they make a pretty picture.

But can we stop and see beyond the picture to truly understand the contribution of these women to tea making. The industry has more women working in it than men, and many at this level as tea pluckers. A few weeks ago, I was in the Nilgiris and thought I’d spend little time on the fields.

By the time I made my way to the field at 9am, work was well underway. There was a steady hum from the shears that are used to harvest the leaves. Trying not to interfere or interrupt the rhythm of work, I stayed on the periphery.

I didn’t think I could wield a shear and make a go at some plucking. The slopes were unfamiliarly steep for me. More than once I slipped and slid, making the women nervous.

And yet, they moved with ease and grace. I made it to a flat patch where we chatted as they kept up with their work. Some of them were local folks while others were from Jharkhand, moving south in search of work.

As it happens with mothers everywhere, conversation turned to our children. One had left a child back home, another had raised hers in the garden and yet another woman‘s eyes lit up as she spoke about her daughter’s upcoming wedding. For these women, work and home are both on the estate, a way of life that goes back to when the plantation-style of farming began in the early-mid 1800s, when the British started tea cultivation.