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I
should explain how and why an Englishman the wrong
side of fifty came to be in India. It all began with a
conversation some three years ago with my boss about
a problem that had arisen in a Joint Venture we had in
Calcutta. Some months later, I was asked if I would like
to take the position for two years. I agreed, and told my
family and friends of my new position and departure date.
My mother pointed out that we had a long history with
India and Calcutta as this was the place my grandparents
had met. Further, my great-grandfather had owned a tea
estate in Assam where my grandmother was born and
which she had inherited. This resulted in some research
that brought up a newsletter with an article about
my great-grandfather, Mr A. A. Glass, that had some
information, which, although colourful, was not actually
correct. With my second key objective, the words “the
family history must be corrected” ringing in my ears, I set
off to Calcutta in 2013.
Just before Christmas 2015 I contacted Mr Rajat Dutt
who responded with lightning speed. A phone call and
a few e-mails resulted in the date being set to visit
Boroi T.E. on the 17th of January 2016, along with my
good friend, Mr Vinay Agrawal.
We set out at 5 am to catch the flight to Guwahati, which
was four hours late. From Guwahati, we were driven to
Boroi. I noticed the speedometer was not working but this
seemed not to worry the driver as we sped off on the
highway. It turned out to be a bit further than I thought,
taking six hours. As we moved further into Assam I could
not help but notice its sheer beauty with wide rivers, flood
plain, agricultural land and forest. As we drew closer the
driver got a call saying the bridge was out and we would
have to take the back way in. We stopped and got out to
stretch our legs when a vehicle drew up and a man with a
gun got out beckoning us to follow him.This was a bit of
a shock but added to the excitement of actually going to
where my great-grandfather had formed a tea estate.
We arrived very late and were welcomed by Jayanta and
Rupa Saikia. Over a drink before supper it became
apparent they had only moved in the last week to Boroi,
so to welcome two strange people into their home was an
achievement in itself. As I have been involved in
agriculture all of my life I was keen to know more about
the issues facing the tea industry. Jayanta was very
knowledgeable and mentioned that labour issues were a
key concern though mechanised plucking had begun to
counteract this. Following an excellent Supper we agreed
to meet at 7am for a tour of the estate.
We met Jayanta in the office where I was able to see my
great-grandfather’s name as the first Manager on a board
listing all the managers to date, although he had actually
owned it. We were taken around the factory which was in
the maintenance phase in readiness for the new
season.We
saw the large drying tables and the grading machines. It
was during the tour that I realised it was my grandparents
who would have agreed to the factory being built. After
the tour and a vital cup of tea we set off to see the estate.
The estate has two rivers on its boundaries – the Boroi and
the Singli.This answered the question why it had originally
been called Singli Tea Estate and then named Boroi. Our
first stop was the River Boroi where, during the monsoon,
it had broken its banks and formed a new river bed, taking
a fair piece of
land.We
were shown the work that had gone
into building a new bank directing the river back to its
original course.
From here we headed towards the original site of the
Tim Robertson recently undertook
a nostalgic Journey to Boroi T.E., founded by
his great-grandfather, Alfred Absolum Glass.
~ Tim Robertson
Suffolk, England
Trip to Boroi/Singli
July 2016 53