Join the tea pluckers as they set about their routine and spend the day learning about tea.

Generally it is a misty cold sometimes drizzling or rainy morning when you hear the long horn blast at 07.00 am from the tea factory, which is a wake up alarm for roll call. By nature their hands are calloused by constant picking and the feet are cracked as they do not wear any footwear as the tea terrain is steep and rugged in places.

They are issued a custom made bag with a frame which can be fixed to their shoulders like a rucksack, their customary attire is colorful saree and blouse, with gunny sack covering to walk through thick bushes.

In addition they have a long stick to see if the tea section they picked is level and also to check if there are any unseen crevices where they have to wade over high bushes. Tea pluckers assemble at the designated divisions in the tea estate to be assigned to fields for picking the world famous “two leaves and a bud”.

The Kangani or field supervisor tells them the expected target which is between 16 and 20 kg per day. During rainy seasons the pickers work all seven days of the week as the crop yield is high. Work begins at 7.30 am to 9.00 am and go to a weighing shed to hand over their pickings. A tea break is allowed for half an hour, and they begin again at 10.00 am and pick till 12noon.

The picked tea leaves are weighed and marked against each person’s account and the leaves are taken to the factory. All break off for lunch from 12.30 pm to 1.30 pm again to the sound of the factory long horn blast.

The afternoon shift begins at 2.00 pm and ends at 4.30 pm or 5.00 pm. Thereafter the leaves are weighed and it is expected that a minimum total of 16 to 20 kilos per day must be picked. The tea leaves collected is collected in coir sacks and taken to the factory and laid out on troughs.

Plucking the leaf initiates the withering stage, in which the leaf becomes flaccid and loses water until, from a fresh moisture content of 70 to 80 percent by weight, it arrives at a withered content of 55 to 70 percent, depending upon the type of processing. In the traditional process, fresh leaf is spread by hand in thin layers onto trays or sections of coarse fabric called that's. It is then allowed to wither for 18 to 20 hours, depending upon several factors that include the temperature and humidity of the air and the size and moisture content.

This is then passed down to a rolling machine which crushes the withered leaves which are then sent through a hot air passage to remove the moisture content. The process gives through a fast sifter which separates different mesh sizes. Tasting of different tea leaves are done in tea factory and color changing with a timer.