Layout 1

Mr Kailash Chaurasia was Manager Sepon T.E. from 1973 to

1983, and although as Superintendent of the Moran estates –

Sepon, Attabarrie, Moran and Lepetketta – from 1984 to

1986 he operated out of the Superintendent’s office (present

GM’s office) at Moran T.E., he continued to be stationed at

the Burra Bungalow at Sepon T.E. until his retirement.

To mark his 80th birthday, Mr Chaurasia bestowed

Rs 80,000/- to meritorious students from the estate.

A function was organized on 26 September 2014 to felicitate

the eight students hailing from the four Divisions of the

estate and present them with bank drafts of Rs 10,000/-

each.The function, presided over by Mr Nareswar Sonowal,

General Manager, Moran, was attended by the executives,

senior staff, union officials and Mother's Club members of all

four Divisions, as well as the parents of the recipients.

Mr Sonowal advised the students to utilize the money

judiciously for educational purposes only.The students were

elated to receive the prize money and assured everyone

present that they would work even harder to secure better

results in future.

A cake was cut by all the eight recipients to celebrate

Mr Chaurasia’s 80th birthday, while three senior staff

members – Shri H. N. Dutta, Shri R.T. Phukan and

Shri P. Handique – shared fond memories of his

tenure at Sepon. Mr Chaurasia had appointed

Shri Phukan as a permanent staff member in the

factory in 1982 while Shri Handique was appointed

as a temporary staff in1983, and made permanent in

1984. Shri H. N. Dutta, who was the ACKS

Secretary in 1983, has cherished photographs of

Mr Chaurasia’s farewell function held at Sepon T.E.

We would like to thank Mr Chaurasia for the

benevolence showered on the deserving students who

join us in conveying their gratitude to him.

Mr Chaurasia’s kind gesture demonstrates the strong

bond that exists between planters, and the staff and

workers of the estates that they serve in, even after

they (the planters) are no longer in service.

Ties That Bind…

80th Birthday Celebrations of Mr K.N. Chaurasia

“The ties that bind us are sometimes impossible

to explain. They connect us, defying distance,

time, and sometimes, logic. Because some ties

are simply… meant to be.”

Anon

62 JANUARY 2015

~ Prithipal Singh Aswal

Sepon T.E.

ne would think that years of

residing in the solitude of the

gardens would have had me

hankering for the bright city lights.

However, a few days of the hustle-

bustle, the noise and pollution, and

I am raring to run back to the clean,

verdant green surroundings of my

home! Here, the stillness is broken

only by the melodious bird calls,

the humming of the insects, the

occasional roar of a leopard nearby,

the howl of the jackals or the distant

trumpeting of wild elephants in the

vicinity, but to name a few. It is indeed a charmed life one leads

here, where with the close proximity to Nature, one inevitably

encounters various forms of wildlife. Many a planter will have

at least one interesting tale to recount about his brush with these

wonderful creatures.

Returning home late, many of us have spotted majestic leopards

in all their golden glory, lounging around on the garden roads

and hardly ever in a hurry to clear the way. Quite often, they

seem rather miffed at having those glaring headlights on them,

disappearing among the tea bushes with an annoyed swish of

their tails. Then there are the herds of wild elephants one

stumbles upon unawares as they silently plod to and from the

paddy fields nearby, often stopping by to feast on the bananas in

one’s ‘malibari’. And of course, it is such a pleasure to see those

wild hares furiously hopping away from approaching danger.

Snakes, mongoose, civet cats and many such animals too can be

spotted in and around the bungalow compounds.

Many a rescue mission has been launched to save these animals

from some disaster or the other, while a lot of other destitute or

injured animals have been nurtured and set free. Recently, two

little leopard cubs, barely a month old, were found in our present

garden, Dehing. Efforts to reunite them with their mother by

forest officials proved futile and they were given to us to be

looked after as they were refusing food. This proved to be a

unique and enchanting encounter. Having had prior experience

in raising some wild animals, we set about trying to feed them,

but with no luck since they were such babies and probably still

suckling on their mother’s milk. So a large sized syringe was

filled with a concoction of Cerelac baby food mixed with fish or

chicken soup and we would squirt this into their mouths every

two hours. This they relished and would greedily drink up.

However, after a month of this routine, our daughter and I

started looking like two raccoons, with dark circles beneath our

eyes, as a result of babysitting! The cubs, christened Zoya and

Zoey, were fast learners though, and soon learnt to feed by

themselves.They were also very friendly with our dogs, especially

our eight-month old German Shepherd,Thunder, and the room

would often be in a shambles after their hide-and seek games.

After a month, we introduced them slowly to raw food for they

would return to their wild habitat soon. I could go on and on

about our time with them but that would result in pages and

pages! Well, to cut a long story short, the forest officials returned

after three months to take them away for rehabilitation, and we

were left with memories and broken hearts, happy nevertheless

that we could do our bit in saving these beautiful creatures.

It is said the earth has music for those who listen – thus we hear

the song of Nature in the leaves rustling in the breeze; the

rhythm of the falling rain; the myriad calls of the animals, birds

and insects around us, but most of all, here, we find peace and

joy in the ‘sounds of silence’.

THE WMTIMES TEAM

Editor : Sarita Dasgupta

Assistant Editor : Rupa Saikia

Coordinator : Sunny Uthup

JANUARY 2015 63

Zoya & Zoey with Thunder