North along the mountains from Periyar is Munnar, a hill station perched in the Western Ghats. Hill stations are places set up by the British in the 19th century for two reasons. The first was to escape the suffocating heat and deadly plague of malaria that claimed hundereds of colonial lives on the plains. The second was to grow vast quantities of tea, the greatest cash cow of all the Empire's commodoties.
In 1947, with Independece, the British left nearly to a man. The Indian middle classes stepped in and bought the plantations up. The greatest of these was the Tata company, headed by Jamsetji Tata - a native of Kolkata who moved south. Branching out from tea this corporation now makes everything from trucks to mobile phones to televisions. In a post colonial irony it also bought up British Steel (or Corvus as it is now known)..
Munnar is a small town of maybe three thousand people. But over seventeen thousand more live in villages situated in the tea plantations. The women work in the fields for nine hours a day plucking the crop for 715 rupees a week (around £10) while the men work in factories and spraying crops for even less money.
Schools, hospitals and tiny two room houses are provided for the workers by Tata. And while pesticides and modern processing techniques have been introduced the field work is largely the same as it was in the 1880s when the Munnar plantations were first created.
Against this stasis tourism is slowly promising much larger revenues. And you can see why people are drawn in increasing hordes. The tea plantations and the epic mountainous landscape offer a lush trekking environment. I can't get enough of it. I've been out three times, and between the vegitation, the drama of the hilltops and the colourful smocks and headgear of the workers it makes for an intoxicating combination of nature and a bygone lifestyle.
I'd recommend it to anyone.
In 1947, with Independece, the British left nearly to a man. The Indian middle classes stepped in and bought the plantations up. The greatest of these was the Tata company, headed by Jamsetji Tata - a native of Kolkata who moved south. Branching out from tea this corporation now makes everything from trucks to mobile phones to televisions. In a post colonial irony it also bought up British Steel (or Corvus as it is now known)..
Munnar is a small town of maybe three thousand people. But over seventeen thousand more live in villages situated in the tea plantations. The women work in the fields for nine hours a day plucking the crop for 715 rupees a week (around £10) while the men work in factories and spraying crops for even less money.
Schools, hospitals and tiny two room houses are provided for the workers by Tata. And while pesticides and modern processing techniques have been introduced the field work is largely the same as it was in the 1880s when the Munnar plantations were first created.
Against this stasis tourism is slowly promising much larger revenues. And you can see why people are drawn in increasing hordes. The tea plantations and the epic mountainous landscape offer a lush trekking environment. I can't get enough of it. I've been out three times, and between the vegitation, the drama of the hilltops and the colourful smocks and headgear of the workers it makes for an intoxicating combination of nature and a bygone lifestyle.
I'd recommend it to anyone.
No comments:
Post a Comment