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| Sunday, 23 October 2005 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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On top of the world by Aditha Dissanayake
Seated on the veradah of a planter's bungalow in the Great Western Mountains in Nuwaraeliya, you feel you are on top of the world, for the simple reason that, your view from whatever direction you cast your eye, encompasses more land, more trees, more grass and more flowers than you have seen in a long, long time. You'd do yourself a favour, as I did on Poya day in the Great Western mountain range, by rolling out of bed to meet the dawn. Make yourself a cup of tea and listen. You'll perhaps hear the distant bark of a dog, or the fragile twittering of a magpie as it sits on the dying branch of a Cyprus tree.
If you are lucky, your morning brew would be tea made in the hill-country, highly praised by tea aficionados for its unique flavour and enigmatic taste. Curious to know how this golden liquid, praised as the best tea in the world is made, at nine in the morning you could find yourself standing in the middle of a VP tea field watching the pluckers at work. Your eyes will fall on Rajalechami's hands moving at lightening speed from the tea bush in front of her to the bag hanging at her back. Her deft fingers, pluck two leaves and a bud, two leaves and a bud, two leaves... She stops and turns towards you "I'm forty-seven. I've been working for 18 years now. I have four children. My husband also works on the Estate". Then she flashes a smile and says, triumphantly "And both of us don't drink."
Feminine dictatorship? Liberation at long last? "No" disagrees Samarakoon. "The man controls the finances. The women's salaries are collected by the men. They decide how the money should be spent. None of the woman get a chance to spend their salaries the way they wish". According to Samarakoon, though the houses of the workers are small, they are well equipped with Tvs, videos, refrigerators. blenders, and irons. Kolandu kondu wanga!, (bring the leaf) shouts the kankani. Rajalechchami and the others walk towards him with their bags and wait for the leaves to be weighed. Soon, its tea time. They open their packets of roti and begin to nibble, often throwing generous pieces to the dogs that lurk around. "I get up at five in the morning" says Theiwani, (37) the mother of two school going children. "So do we all" chime Vijeya (27) and Mohana Kumari (24). "I have a wash and make rotti and katta-sambol for breakfast, then I cook rice and a curry for lunch. I send the kids to school with their packets of roti and come to work by eight. At ten I have my breakfast, (roti), at one I return home for lunch. I begin work again at two, and work till five. Its about six when I go home. I have a wash, prepare dinner, (rice with two curries), watch TV and go to bed around ten in the night". Vijaya and Mohana Devi say their days too are spent in much the same way. They too get up at five in the morning to prepare breakfast and lunch. But Mohana Devi who has two pre-school children says she irons their clothes too in the morning and washes them and dresses them before dropping them off at the creche. Doesn't her husband help? "Shivakumara? Help me? No. But he feeds the cattle in the morning" she explains in his defense. Every night they have rice with two curries, and after preparing dinner, watch TV. They like Sinhala teledramas, but watch English movies too, even though they don't understand the language. "I like watching news" says staunch Rajalechchami. The number of days they work depend on the weather and the amount of leaves on the tea bushes. Non-working days are spent washing clothes, bathing and gathering firewood. How do they spend the money they earn? "Mostly on food and on the children's education". Say all four. "My children have savings accounts. My husband and I deposit Rs.150.00 a month, in each account", adds Mohana Kumari. She deserves the last word. In the manner of those who say "life is beautiful" (jeevithaya sundarai) on Lunch Time TV, Mohana Kumari, displaying her knowledge of English, sums up her life with the words "Life nalla". Made with such optimism, no wonder the tea in your hands tastes so good. The overall experience, from aroma to sip to swallow, is rounded and boasts of the right amount of rain and sunlight, soil conditions and the dedication of the workers. The best way to drink it is without sugar with a dash of milk, and while its still hot. This is certainly not the kind of tea to leave cooling on the dresser while you iron your shirt on a weekday morning. This is tea you must sip gazing at the mountains covered with the bushes of tea, feeling the circle has been completed. With man's most affordable luxury in your hands you are sure to feel on top of the world. |
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| Produced by Lake House |
It is said, and rightfully so, that heaven is only a few feet away from
themountains of Nuwaraeliya. This seems especially true in the early hours
of the morning when cleansed by a nights rest; the world and the observer
feel both fresh and exalted. 
A low cooing sound, possibly that of a coucal might drift by, in the
background as the voices of the tea-pluckers on their way to the Muster
ascend the mountainside. Gradually, the mist will lift like steam rising
from the cup of tea in your hands and the speck of a van on the
Colombo-Hatton road will become visible in the distance, sounding its horn
to warn approaching drivers as it winds around hairpin curves. 
You stop scribbling in your note book and raise your eyebrows at this
last statement. S. Samarakoon, the welfare officer of the Great Western
Estate, Thalawakelle, explains. "In most families, both husband and wife
consume alcohol. The man goes for a drink in the evening and comes home with
half a bottle of "something strong". If he doesn't do so, he might get
beaten by his wife." 
