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A
fter graduating B. Com (Hons)
from St Xavier’s College, Kolkata,
and qualifying as a Chartered
ccountant, i proceeded to work for
A. F. Ferguson & Co for three years and
thereafter for five years with indian
Aluminium Company Ltd at Kolkata.
Responding to an advertisement for the
post of Group Accountant for a tea
company, i arrived at the MRiL office on
Shakespeare Sarani. An interview was
arranged on the first day with Mr J. C.
Verma (who is no more with us today).
He asked me several questions and
answered them all himself before i could
even start speaking. Fantastic interview!
The very next day i was sent to Mr N. N.
Atal for the second round of interviews.
Mr Atal, instead of asking me anything,
first enquired if i had any question to ask
him. i was not at all prepared for this. in
this utterly bewildered state i asked one
or two very elementary questions about
the Company. Each time he said, “it is a
fair question!”
So, i was selected as Group Accountant
– North Bank, with effect from 1 June
1985. The very same evening,
i received a phone call from the MRiL
office saying Mr R. A. Eastment was in
Kolkata and was desirous of meeting me
in the evening at the Penthouse. All
went very well.
So, one Saturday evening in summer, at
around 7 pm, i arrived at Balipara
having driven from Kolkata for two
days, covering 1100 km, in my
Ambassador car with my Bengali driver.
No one was available at Balipara when
i arrived, as the Director was visiting the
estates.Thankfully, a bungalow was kept
vacant for me.
imagine reaching a tea estate at night
straight from Kolkata all alone and for
the very first time! After dinner, the
chowkidar explained in detail about the
ghost which visited the Bungalow daily.
My driver’s eyes really popped and we
both decided to quit – simply go back
after informing the office once it opened
on Monday. (My dad had instructed me
never to leave a posting without
informing my superiors.)
The next day being Sunday, nobody was
in sight. At around 10 am, a Bearer
came on a cycle and delivered a hand
written invitation to a party at the VA’s
Bungalow to meet Mr N. N. Atal. i
enjoyed the evening and the day
passed… just another day left before
going back to Kolkata.
Once Mr Atal had left for Kolkata the
next day, my rigorous training started
immediately with Mr R.A Eastment.
what i learnt is priceless. After a week,
the driver left and i gradually settled
down in my new environment. within
the next three or four days,
Mr Eastment appointed Sucheta
(presently at Pertabghur) as my driver.
Thus started my career in Tea and
Mr Eastment took every care to settle
me in.
Those days i used to visit our Dooars
estates from Balipara. There i met
another amazing personality,Mr Ashok
Kaul, and his late wife, Mrs Ranjana
Kaul – a magnificent lady. i will never
forget the way they received me as a
young assistant.
i really enjoyed working with both the
VAs – Mr Eastment and Mr Kaul. Two
years later, Mr Eastment retired and
slowly my trips to the Dooars also
became less frequent.
in the meanwhile, my wife and son
joined me. we had a fantastic time
driving here and there with Sucheta. He
took us on long journeys to Shillong and
Guwahati frequently.
MRiL joined the wM Group in 1988
and after four years at Balipara, my first
transfer was to Moran T.E. and
thereafter to itakhooli T.E. i had a short
six months’ stay at Borengajuli. During
that brief period, George (Ambooken)
took a personal interest in training me
to drive across the river. One day while
manoeuvring through raging torrents, i
almost lost the Gypsy. Needless to
mention, my ‘trainer’ was indeed next to
me!Thankfully, a few fishermen came to
our rescue.
within six months i was transferred to
the Dooars for five years, and thereafter,
i spent a year at Pertubghur before
reaching Margherita via Hunwal…now,
i’m finally back in Kolkata… and life
has come full circle.
How I joined Tea
~ Jayanta Jash, Kolkata
48 JULY 2015