Brain behind tea Midas touch

C.K. Parasher outside the factory at Manohari garden

Guwahati: "Love the tea bush as a child", is octogenarian tea planter C.K. Parasher's message to his fellow and upcoming planters.

In a career spanning 61 years in tea, Parasher, who comes from Punjab, started out from Darjeeling before moving to Assam.

He worked for more than two decades in Halmari and Doomni, both known for world-class teas and getting the highest prices in auctions.

Parasher is the brain behind the Gold Special grade tea from Manohari tea estate, which fetched Rs 39,001 a kilogram at the Guwahati auction on Tuesday.

This is the highest price for tea at the auctions in the country so far.

The visiting agent joined a tea garden in Darjeeling at 21 and later went to Assam after convincing his mother. "She was a bit hesitant and said there is jungle there and black magic. I said people stay in a jungle too and she finally relented. I was very interested in making a career in tea," he told The Telegraph on Wednesday, on his way to Suntok, another garden of the company.

At 84, Parasher is still hale and hearty and goes to the factory at night alone.

He joined a school in Darjeeling as a teacher at a salary of Rs 80. While there, he met a tea planter, which was the turning point in his life.

In 1967 he joined Doomni as its superintendent. Later, he was transferred to Halmari and again brought back to Doomni after a few years.

"I helped Halmari to make a profit in a short time and rebuilt the factory within a year after it was destroyed in a fire," he said.

"Dedication is very important and for a tea planter, one should love the tea bush as a child. Tea was my bread and butter and I gave everything to it. Once my wife had asked me to go for a movie, but I refused to say I have to run the factory," he said.

His wife, to whom he had been married for 47 years, passed away a few years ago.

At Halmari, he said he had planted most of the clones, which are helping the garden now to make the best teas.

"One has to evolve different processes in manufacturing and not just be content with only one style," he added.

Asked about Parasher, Gaurav Jalan, the director of Doomni tea estate, said: "A man deeply passionate about his work. He would be unflinching in his criticism of the head-office for non-adherence/queries. And, as I have always quipped, he probably carried an undated resignation letter in his pocket at all times. Parasher has become one of the last great tea planters by upholding principles and self-discipline. A behemoth of knowledge who has stirred and shaken many a visiting adviser by his queries.

"I still remember him in his many-pocketed jacket coming to greet me on a winter morning on my maiden visit to Doomni many years ago," Jalan reminisced.

AUTHOR - ROOPAK GOSWAMI
SOURCE -  THE TELEGRAPH