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16 ‘A Special Place in the Heart’ William Henderson The historic landscape of tea in the Indian Subcontinent has recently undergone seismic change. After more than 120 years, <strong>Finlays</strong> called a halt to its operations in Bangladesh (see our last edition). Meanwhile, an employee buy-out by the 12000-strong work force in 2005 once again changed the fortunes of Tata Tea Limited’s South India Plantation Division, founded in 1878 by James Finlay & Co. Ltd., and run by the company until its Indian estates were finally sold to Tata in 1982. We asked Bill Henderson, a former High Range General Manager and co-author of ‘Facets of a Hundred Years Planting’, to take a nostalgic look back at early days in South India’s incomparably beautiful Kanan Devan Hills, a place regarded by an earlier generation as the jewel in the company’s crown. The original company was formed in 1895 within the area of the Kanan Devan Concession - some 230 square miles, first granted in 1877 to one John Daniel Munro. The area, known as the High Ranges, by virtue of their wild and rugged nature, includes Aneimudi, the highest mountain in India south of the Himalayas. All this was to be transformed, by generations of venturesome planters into a veritable Shangri-la. Under the Finlay umbrella, former proprietary plantations were developed and new extensions opened, initially in rubber, chinchona and coffee. Life in those times for both planter and labourer was no sinecure: travel in and out of the hills was by bullockcart, horse-back, 'dooly' (litter) or, in extremis, 'shanks pony'. Torrential monsoon rains often washed out bridges and roads. The year 1924 saw a particularly savage monsoon devastate great swathes of the district, take many lives and go down in High Range history as a date never to be forgotten. The Light Railway had to be discontinued after extensive damage, factories were destroyed along with labour lines, bridges, buildings and people. The flood nevertheless resulted in the development of district-wide roads and, later, an aerial ropeway. These greatly aided the Munnar township's ability to provide basic necessities to management, staff and labour, previously frequently bereft of supplies for weeks on end. It also focused attention on the urgent necessity of improving health measures in the face of plague and cholera, both prevalent in the low-country and brought in by recruited labour, despite the installation of plague check-posts. The General Hospital, established in the early days just outside the town, was completely renovated and moved into the town centre, while medical facilities were extended to each plantation. As selfsufficiency became vital, plans were laid for the establishment of a farm in the Kundaly Valley and for a store at Munnar. Thus, the MSA or Munnar Supply Association came into being and remains so today. Finlay's forged ahead with a programme of improvement; by 1915 there were 16 modernised tea factories, some hydro driven, others by electricity supplied by two power houses built in 1900 and 1910 at Pullivassal and Periakanal; other motive power derived from turbines and waterdriven Pelton wheels. Side by side with these
improvements, transportation for the movement of leaf, teas and machinery evolved slowly, until the arrival of the tractor transformed plucking and processing standards. The horse, however, was the planter's mainstay for decades, until motorcycles became generally available. In 1904, a Mounted Infantry Company known as The Southern Provinces Mounted Rifles(SPMR) was formed; this led to the introduction of horses to the High Range where they rapidly became integral not only to plantation supervision, but to the planters’ social life, facilitating visits to neighbours and to the Club. Stories of such visits, some perhaps apocryphal, abound. One evening, after much conviviality, two senior planters exited the Club, mounted up, bade each other goodnight and rode off - each to wake up the following morning in the other's bungalow! From the Club, a path meanders up through the tea to a junction of several other routes where it was customary for a group to pause for a last smoke before heading back to their respective estates, their path lit only by the glow of a stirruplantern. This was, and to this day still is, called Cigarette Point. In 1910, an allowance of Rupees 30 was paid to maintain a horse, but inflationary spirals took their toll as always and, in 1971, the last allowance paid was Rupees 300. It is interesting to note that in the same year, an Assistant Manager received, on marrying, only an additional Rupees 125 on his Dearness Allowance - but then horses do eat more! Travel times, of course, decreased with the introduction of the motorcycle, car, lorry and tractor. In the 1920s, planters going from Munnar to play rugby in the Nilgiri Hills, required to take a week's leave as the 150 mile journey alone took three to four days. The same journey, by car today is achieved in about four to five hours. The early planters may have worked and played hard but did not neglect the spiritual. The absence of a church resulted in one committee minute recording: "One gentleman remarked that he had heard discontent voiced at the Club library being made use of for church services, thus preventing members from making use of the billiard room". A pretty little church was duly built and consecrated in 1911. Despite inconsistencies of religious enthusiasm over the years, Christ Church continues to be used by all Protestant denominations, including the local Tamil and Malayali congregations. New Assistants had always been required to learn the Tamil language; in the 1950s, the reward was either Rupees 1000 - or a re-sit; failure earned a passage home! One such new entrant, a decade earlier, was advised by the then General Manager of this requirement. His manager helpfully chimed in, "Yes sir, of course. I actually learnt my Tamil from 'Inge Va' (a local textbook whose title translates as 'Come Here'). In answer the GM roared: "I don't care what her name was. This boy must learn the vernacular!" The High Range has always held a special place in the hearts of its planters and was the envy of many other districts: primarily for the sheer natural beauty of its situation, its social life and its renowned hospitality to all incomers. Those of us who spent long periods of our lives there were privileged to have experienced a unique existence. William Henderson St Andrews 17
Page 1: Autumn/Winter ’06 Volume 42/No.2
Page 4 and 5: 4 View from the MD’s Desk Rupert
Page 6 and 7: 6 Rethinking the Brand Simon Large
Page 8 and 9: 8 Pullout to go in here lorem ipsum
Page 10 and 11: 10 Project Lily Nev Harries In 1996
Page 12 and 13: 12 Designing an open plan office to
Page 14 and 15: Clockwise: Colombian farmer, Orland
Page 18 and 19: 18 Pensioners’ Reunion The lunch
Page 20 and 21: 20 News Tea Estates continued... Ke
Page 22 and 23: 22 News Tea Estates continued... Sr
Page 24 and 25: 24 News Beverages continued... UK N
Page 26 and 27: 26 News Flowers Update Tim Blackbur
Page 28 and 29: 28 News Sri Lanka continued... Twic
Page 30 and 31: 30 Announcements Births Adil On May

News - Finlays

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