The sixteen Duncan-Goyenka tea estates in India are in the news. They
are shut for months causing countless deaths and limitless misery to lacs of
people living in their limits. I was born in Dumchipara Tea Estate, one of the Duncan-Goyenka
tea estates, at the foothills of the Himalayas. Though I live 600 KM far south,
I am suffering the misery too.
The road thru’ Duncan’s Dumchipara Estate
Hides a history of its own unwritten state
With witnesses dead and buried underneath
It has been erased lacking a safe or sheath
The only road link ‘twas
to India’s north-east
For the mainland, played a role in war not least
This was the road that saw the brave soldiers
Of the Indian army marching to north borders
To defend motherland from horde’s aggression
Of the dragon driven by acquiring possession
It saw tanks, trucks armored cars of all kind
On the shocked tea bushes raking dust behind
A generation is gone since those booming bangs
The deft Duncans left Dumchi to Goyenkas gangs
And to grabbing greed and inept minds and hands
The tea estate limped on rocks, gravel and sands
The machines no more hum in the quiet factory
As the estate’s been closed causing much misery
And the tea plucking fingers are unemployed laid
Working hands wither with years of wage unpaid
Many of mine have been claimed by early death
By the lack of medicines to prolong life’s breath
And the unkempt tea bushes are silent in grief
Hoping the hoe’s harvest to be short and brief
The road thru’ Duncan’s Dumchipara is desolate
While many roads have been truly tarred
of late
The road thru’ dreary Dumchi lies like a dog frail
Too weak even to open its eyes or wag its tail
When I draw near, it
emits signs of recognition
But of sadder days of sorrow I sense premonition
Governments have since turned into history
But the old dog still lies there, it’s a mystery
For the child within me perhaps alive to remain
To light a lamp of joy, to lessen my adult pain
The road thru’ Dumchi jumps to me with life inside
It lies lifeless though, with weak workers to abide
Xavier Bage
Tues, March 01, 2016
