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couple of months back, a fresh Management

Trainee joined our estate. After his first

introduction to our office staff in the morning,

he asked me, “Sir, what is kamjari?” and I thought to

myself, “Welcome, lad, to Planet Tea.” The most

important word, KAMJARI, without which a tea estate

is non-functional and we planters would be at a total

loss; it’s the ‘hakuna matata’ for us as in the jungle of the

Lion King. It is the most important word for everyone

working in an estate and is more valued than all the

space scientists of NASA working together!

The morning office starts with the sentence, “Kamjari

kaha hain?” The day then commences with this spark

of the ignition and we start our engines and run a cross

country race till we drop down exhausted in the

evening! It is a never ending word because as you finish

one, the other pops out like toast from a toaster.

As we planters start our day, the office, headed by the

captain of the ship, Burra Sahab, leads the discussion

and then the magical word pops out and all decisions

are taken. If the Captain is in a bad mood and with a

hangover from the night before, then objects are seen

flying and Assistants turn into gladiators, not to attack,

but to save themselves from the missiles! I have heard

of certain incidents when Assistants even perform puja

just to ensure they do not encounter a disastrous day!

However, on good days the hours pass smoothly by with

a lot of laughter and good companionship.

I joined Tea in the Dooars. After a week of working

there, I found a leopard cub in the garden and happily

kept it in my bungalow. Another week passed and I was

summoned to the office by Burra Sahab. As soon as I

entered, I was told in no uncertain terms, “You are no

Jim Corbett here. Your work is not to keep cubs, so hand

it over to the forest guys.” I had no option but to follow

his orders pronto!

Then I was transferred to Assam and kamjari here was

a frightful scene. I had just done five months in Tea so

witnessing the books lined up on the Burra Sahab’s desk

flying helter-skelter when the Assistants or the staff

committed any mistakes, rather overwhelmed me. I used

to think all these dramatics were rather over-the-top for

the little word ‘Kamjari’, which means daily allocation

of work.

Years went by and I worked with different Burra Sahabs;

each one had his own way of dealing with kamjari…

some aggressive and some polite, but eventually all

kamjaris were carried out, come hell or high water.

Kamjari for an Assistant is not only to look after his

Division but also do kamjari in the bungalows, such as

procuring cigarettes or arranging for a quick drink for

colleagues at any odd hour. Even arranging a picnic

The ‘Hakuna Matata’ of Tea

– Bisswadip Banerjee

Bogapani T. E.

54 January 2016

January 2016 55

becomes a kamjari. And if you are the Factory Assistant

and you slipped up on sending the plumber or the

electrician to the Burra Bungalow, then even a “sorry”

would be of little help! One of my Burra Sahabs told

me when I came to the estate that he wanted

everything done ‘in style’, work in style and party in

style. However the Assistants are yet to figure out that

mantra of Style and are still striving hard to achieve that

Goal! Kamjari does not end with Captains only but it

goes down till the grassroots of Somra and Mangra too,

to see how many hours of work they have put in and

how much work they have completed.

Now with the introduction of new systems we try to

become tech savvy but here also we falter and try and

send corrigendum almost on a regular basis… not to

forget, this is also a part of Kamjari.

We planters are truly ‘Jacks of all trades’ while still

trying to be Masters of it all! We do all possible work –

be it mechanical, electrical and electronics – sometimes

without being qualified; yet, at the end of the day, we

carry out all our kamjaris in a befitting manner for the

interest of the estate and also for the Company.