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58 July 2016
KAMJARI...a singularly unique word found in no dictionary or in any language
but which features every day and hour in a planter’s language and lifestyle. As a
kid in diapers, Mum would tell us, “Dad has gone for kamjari”, or we would hear
Dad admonishing someone over the field telephone, “Kamjari kyu nahi kiya?”
A decade and half later, I actually got to know what kamjari actually meant.
Kamjari, other than being a work detail or a schedule to be maintained, covered
the maverick’s existence of a tea planter. Years ago, a young lad returning home
from an ‘out of estate’ rendezvous decided in his wisdom, derived from all of
one year’s experience, to enter the hospital to make his presence felt. Strolling
past the maternity ward he could hear the agonising groan of a mother-to-be.
He walked in, and to his surprise assisted in delivering a baby girl! It still amazes
him and even to date, he rarely fails to visit the hospital and gently converse
with the indoor patients.
‘A kamjari given is a kamjari done’, is the dictum of a tea planter. Once, a
Manager instructed his Assistant to plant the tea saplings which were in
polythene sleeves. The job was done without any questions asked, sleeves and
~ Sivaji Dutt
Margherita T.E.
The Accidental
Midwife!
A maverick who tackles the mundane and
the unexpected with equal elan - that’s Sivaji!