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The Team
Abhai Kumar Singh
 My early days.
I joined tea at the age of
25 years, and my first posting was in a company by the name of Mcleod &
Company, in a tea garden named Margets Hope, located in Darjeeling, West
Bengal, India.
I joined the garden as a
trainee (apprentice) and later was inducted as the Assistant Manager. It
was working in this garden in-between 1968 and 1979 that I learned the
basics about tea, which I consider the backbone to the knowledge I have
today.
My next job was in a
garden located at the foothills of Darjeeling, Longview Tea Company. I
joined work as the Manager of the Estate, a position I held from 1979
till 1983. During which I learnt the basics about Estate management .
My most beneficial part
of my experience in Longview Tea Estate was the possibility of
manufacturing both the major varieties of teas that are produced, a.
Orthodox, and b. CTC.
Due to my enthusiasm and
my nature of perfection, my relationship with my senior, the
Superintendent was always stretched, and hence the frustration that
built up as I wasn’t able to put my ideas into work, I resigned to join
another company by the name of Kamala Tea Company.
Years of Growth
Kamala Tea Company, was a
proprietorship firm. The garden was located in the terai region (i.e.
the flat land just below the Himalayan range). My joining Kamala Tea
Estate was a gamble I was willing to take. The reason it was a gamble
was because it was abandoned garden and in pathetic state.
Against all the reasoned
guidance I was to receive from my friends and colleagues for not joining
Kamala, I did join. With the sole aim of making the garden a jewel from
the dilapidated condition it was in.
In-between 1984 and 1986,
I will able to get the garden back on its feet. Like I had planned,
Kamala became the garden to sell the Highest priced Orthodox tea
manufacturer. A new product was out in the market, Orthodox made from
the estate located in the plains. As till that time Orthodox was
primarily a product manufactured in the hill estates.
1996 was the year that
our organization purchase 2 more tea estates and I became the
Superindent. As the years progressed more estates were added and I was
promoted to the position of Chief Executive. I had the responsibility of
taking care of 13 tea estates, and a total production of 5,500,000 kilos
annually. The companies that I looked after were, Kamala Tea Co.Ltd,
Kadambini Tea Co. Ltd, Tondoo Tea Co., Toonbarie Tea Co. Ltd, Peerless
Tea & Industries ltd, Samsing Plantation & Industries Ltd, Singell Tea &
Agriculture Industries Ltd.
During my tenure I had
the opportunity to be one of the first persons to convert an estate in
an Organic Estate in the Darjeeling Hills. I also looked after the 3rd
largest tea Estate in India.
These years gave me a
number of experiences. One of the most important experiences was the
ability to experiment with the production of tea. With the joint effort
of my friend, Dr. I.D.Singh, it was possible to experiment with a number
of hybrid tea plants, which lead us to understand which variety was best
suited for what type of tea, and region.
My
achievement
It was during this tenure
when I was able to experiment. And during one of these manufacturing
experiments I produced a variety of tea which today is famous in Europe
and Japan. The tea produced had a light liquor. Today I can proudly
state that 70% of Darjeeling tea Estates follow my technique of
production.
The result of having 70%
of the estates in Darjeeling following my method of manufacturing was
due to my next assignment. This assignment I took up as I had an urge to
give back to the industry what knowledge I had gained in my 30 years of
experience.
Changing
the way Darjeeling made Tea
The result was my
retirement from a professional job and the birth of a consulting firm.
This resulted in a number of gardens taking my advise, mainly in
the Darjeeling region.
Some of them were big tea
houses that owned tea garden like Phugri Tea Estate, Orange Valley Tea
Estate, Rishihat Tea Estate, Singtom Tea Estate, Gayabari tea Estate,
Sungma Tea Estate, Puttabong Tea Estate, Singtom & Steenthal Tea Estate.
After 5 years of
spreading my knowledge of Tea in and around Darjeeling Tea Plantations a
brief visit to Kangra, Himachal Pradesh which is located north of Delhi
resulted in the venture that I am currently associated with.
Manjhee
Valley, Kangra, Himachal Pradesh
It was during a holiday
with my family in the fall of 2003 that I became aware that tea was
grown and produced in the Himalayan Hills in the north of India. This
aroused my curiosity and upon investigation I discovered that Tea was
being grown in these areas for the last 160 years. Well before the
plantation of Darjeeling.
Upon further
investigation I got to know that the tea industry of Himachal Pradesh,
was in a deplorable state. Even though it was the birth of the tea
plantation in India. The situation was pathetic. An uncared for
industry. Being a man of tea, it left me feeling a bit sad.
After returning from our
holiday, the knowledge of a tea industry going to waste didn’t leave my
thought. And upon deliberation, I thought, how about trying to bring
back the Himachal Pradesh Tea industry back to its glorious days, when
it was world famous and had won awards from stores like Harrods
(London).
Today, we have started on
our new aim, which is to bring back Himachal Pradesh tea into the world
map, and through Manjhee Valley I hope I will be able to do the same.
By opening the closed
gardens, I have ensured of providing the livelihood to more than 5,000
people directly or indirectly. All facilities are provided to them
including medical aid.
I hope by making Manjhee
Valley Tea Estate a successful venture, more people from the Tea
community will come to this part of the country to revive this ailing
Tea Industry in Kangra, Himachal Pradesh.
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