"It would taste better with sugar" : navigating deprivation and confidence in everyday life on a tea plantation in Assam

Abstract

This story focuses on an ordinary working day on a tea plantation in Assam from the perspective of Jiya—a tea plucker on Dolani Tea Estate. It illustrates how Jiya navigates fundamental deprivations in her everyday life structured by the company's relentless siren without losing track of the scope for confident action. The photos, the plantation, the protagonist, and the incidents described in the story are based on real places, persons, and observations I encountered during thirteen months of fieldwork on Assam tea plantations between 2014 and 2017. However, the compilation of multiple observations into one day is a work of fiction. All names of persons and places in the story are pseudonyms. Quotations in the text are my own translations from Hindi into English.