Mr Rajah Banerjee’s book instils Makaibari Tea Estate Nostalgia

Today, I was dusting some old racks lined up with books and a particular book got my attention – a tea book that had been gifted to me by Mr. Rajah Banerjee of Makaibari Tea Estate, a tea book written by Mr. Banerjee himself relating to Darjeeling Tea and the evolution of Makaibari going organic. The book “The Wonder of Darjeeling” by Rajah Banerjee had been lying there for a long time and as I flipped through the pages, I could see Mr. Banerjee’s handwritten note to me which said –

“Benoy – what a pleasure to meet a digital voyager. Warmest, Rajah Banerjee, Makaibari 16/03/06”.

Magical Makaibari Tea Estate Nostalgia

I succumbed to a magical Makaibari Tea Estate nostalgia which brought back all those memories, beautiful and pure – all those everyday ventures of breaking into a tea garden field without a particular reason, just to pay respect to the tea bushes. Foolish, some may perceive but that is what I felt during those days and it still resonates today – you may wonder why?

The reason: though I come from a tea oriented family who worked for decades under the tea culture, never had I thought that the tea which ran through all of our family blood lines, would form the base of a business pyramid which I had to slowly learn, crawl and spread. It was a Godly revelation that paved way for me and that is the reason why I resorted to such foolishness, a foolishness which gave me eternal happiness, a foolishness which gave me celestial peace, a foolishness which I would like to do time and again. Nothing in comparison can give me the ‘essence and peace’ of lying on that softly matted grass bed with herbs, shrubs and tea bushes lying around. And not to forget the company of the ever charming and lovely tea garden people, always welcoming with their arms and hearts wide open.

Thunderbolt Tea, the first online site to promote Darjeeling Tea

You may have noticed Mr. Rajah Banerjee addressing me as a “digital voyager” and you may wonder why? There is a specific reason why he calls me that. During 2006 (the year when I received this book from Mr. Banerjee when visiting Makaibari Tea Estate), most of the tea shops and businesses in Darjeeling depended on the actual tourists visiting Darjeeling, meaning they were offline shops, a real brick and mortar establishments. A website related to Darjeeling Tea with ecommerce features was just a vague idea which was never implemented – meaning there was no ‘click and buy’ tea shop from a Darjeeling based tea merchant which supplied Darjeeling Tea directly from the source i.e. Darjeeling.

Though I had started my tea business way earlier in 1999 via traditional and non techie methods (technology was zero then, guess google had just left their Backrub engine and began walking towards their google initiative then :)), door to door sale you may say, I managed to launch Thunderbolt Tea’s site in the year 2004. The launch of Thunderbolt Tea’s website was borne with a comprehensive idea to break national barriers and promote Darjeeling Tea internationally as a means to provide direct access to tea lovers worldwide to get their favorite Darjeeling Tea directly from Darjeeling. An idea to cut the middleman, cut the age old practice of selling tea and instead serve quality Darjeeling Tea, fresh and fragrant as soon as it gets available, all at the convenience of a single mouse click.

Mr Rajah Banerjee agrees to the idea

Upon my explanation to Mr. Banerjee, the potential of what the locals could achieve by selling online, it was well received and appreciated by Mr. Banerjee who said, “this is not only good for you, but good for the whole of Darjeeling in ethical terms”. He further added, “the resource taken from Darjeeling never gets paid back properly to Darjeeling directly. The sales you achieve may not be big young man, but whatever your sales maybe, comes back to Darjeeling directly – The economy stays in Darjeeling.” Wow, I was a bud and Mr. Rajah Banerjee seems to have watered my roots which gave me passion to bloom and move ahead which I am still doing it and will do it till the end.

Just my personal assumption – My Makaibari Tea Estate visit might have influenced Mr. Rajah Banerjee so much that he opened up a blog for himself in 2007 and started blogging, though for some reasons I assume, he couldn’t carry on. Blogging is not easy and as he was a busy man, I am guessing he couldn’t manage time to continue, but guess what, Mr Banerjee’s incomplete blogging saga is still there online. Take a look here

The onward journey

At the very beginning, the sales were meager and disheartening, but the love for Darjeeling Tea and my passion to sustain life through what I loved, always re-kindled the fire and promised me hope and aspiration. Today, after, decades of online presence and total 23+ years in the tea trade since 1999 non techie days, sales have improved and I am being able to sustain my life and that of my family. Sincerity, hard work and the love for tea has proved vital. Thanks to all tea lovers who have been with us for years and above all thanks for trusting us – without you all, Thunderbolt Tea is just a banner on the wall.

Today I see a plethora of local sites selling Darjeeling Tea and I am happy that in one or the other way, economy is being driven back to Darjeeling. So, if you want to buy any single estate Darjeeling, buy from a merchant based in Darjeeling. Yes, caution though, hundreds of tea sites claim that they are locals and operate from Darjeeling, but are actually corporates and fraudsters who are using our genuine means of livelihood to market their products with behavioral approach. Help us get that small portion from the huge that is lost and never comes back.

I am still struggling with the tea knowledge procurement because I found out that its a gigantic encyclopedia and I believe, learning about tea is a never ending story. I raise my cup of Darjeeling Tea and dedicate it to the world of tea lovers around the world – I can see that the love for tea is growing, leaps and bounds and thats good! Tea is flung as a health beverage and is true pertaining to it’s marvelous antioxidant properties, but people push it too hard and make it a marketing gimmick. Anyways, tea is loved for what it is. I love it because I am addicted to it and I consider it to be a mesmerizing addiction which engulfs you in peace, tranquility and with a sense of relaxation. And with our family history relating to tea, its like an extra topping on an icecream to fall in love more.

The First Financial disaster encounter at Makaibari Tea Estate: A Mix match of Anger and Joy

The book Affair at Makaibari Tea Estate above was not the first encounter with Mr Rajah Banerjee. The first meet was in 2004 when I had just launched my brand new site (static altogether, dynamic as it is today was not known well then hehe). I needed teas to fill my tea catalogue and Makaibari Tea was one of the first things that came to mind. Some other teas that I can vaguely remember were from Puttabong and Castleton. Ok the first real face to face incident with the tea guru took quite a turn by the end of the day. Read on if you want to enjoy the story.

It was during 2004 First Flush time around mid March, when an honorable meeting with the most reputed Tea Guru I have ever known, Mr. Rajah Banerjee of Makaibari Tea Estate, was possible. I had heard hundreds of stories about him, his Makaibari Tea Estate and particularly his love for animals, environment and above all his people.

Upon hearing so many stories, I had taken a particular “imaginary snapshot” of him in my mind and was eagerly waiting to synchronize as soon as I set my foot on Makaibari Tea Estate’s premises. Although, I had gone there to procure some organic teas, I found out that I was inclined more towards meeting him than procuring the teas. I guess, the love for tea which Mr. Rajah Banerjee shares with the world made my thoughts draw an arrow of urgency towards meeting him.

Setting foot on Makaibari Tea Estate

I got down and entered the Makaibari Tea Estate gate – Guess what? “Excuse me Sir, how can I help you? Whom do you want to meet?”, the guard standing on the gate asked. I guess those were necessary questions to be asked to anyone entering inside and I totally agree, after all its one of the most prestigious tea estates in the world. As Mr. Rajah Banerjee and I were having email sessions from beforehand, I was called in instantly without any delay.

The Real Meetup with the Tea Guru, Burra Sahib Rajah Banerjee

The first impression of my imprinted thoughts synchronized well regarding the outfit he was wearing – an essence of the British Raj reflected with his Khaki outfit. I guess that is how it must have felt when anyone was meeting a “Burra Sahib” (the big master) in the olden days. He signaled me with his hand to take a seat and requested me to wait for sometime as he was attending to his official work with one of his office staff. After a short while, he was free to chat with me. Well, I was literally hesitant to speak up anything, thinking that I might speak something which may prove to be blatant and inappropriate. The silence was broken when the Tea Guru handed me his visiting card, shook hands with me and asked me with a smiling and welcoming face – “So young man, it’s a pleasure to meet you, please tell me your story?”. My story? I pondered, but the down to earth behavior from the other side evaporated my hesitant feeling from every pore of my body into thin air. I started my part and after a while we were laughing like little kids engrossed in our own world of friendship. Yes, we were friends in no time and I assume we could understand each other maybe through the common platform we shared – “Our Love for Tea”.

By the time we finished our little chat for about an hour (yes, with heavenly amber sips in between), I could devise my brain instruments to record it and synchronize with my previous imagery. I found Mr. Rajah Banerjee to be a person, who is capable of walking hand-in-hand with his tea laborers, a person who respects life, believes in equality and above all a person who understands the importance of respecting other’s feelings. A person you would dream to meet.

Now it was time for our little tea tasting session of the First Flush Silver Tips I was buying. Oh Boy! A heavenly brew which opened all of my sensory gates. The Tea Guru gave me a good number of tips on tea tasting and guess what, it was of great help and a new discovery when done following his guidelines. What he says about tea tasting in a simple line:

“Tea tasting is ABSTRACT, learn to associate with known flavors you know about and you will get your tea’s divine description”.

The tea tasting session was over and after spending more than two hours with him, I didn’t want to waste anymore of Mr. Banerjee’s time. Some Japanese group was waiting for his presence downstairs and it was now time for me to pay and head for home.

My Wife Made Me Look Stupid at Makaibari Tea Estate

In the morning before I headed for Makaibari Tea Estate, I had told my wife to get the money in the bag and leave it on the bed. I got my digital camera, pushed it inside my bag and bid goodbye. Now I was in Makaibari Tea Estate ready to pay the required amount to the man concerned. I had kept the bag inside Mr. Banerjee’s office which had an open door leading to the tasting room and a long corridor which could be traversed by any of his staff members.

I opened the bag and Boom! A thunder exploded right on my head – No money in the bag!! You can well imagine the situation. It’s like you eat a hearty meal in a restaurant and when it’s time to pay the bill, you realize your purse is missing. I informed Mr. Banerjee about the situation and he too was utterly confused. All of the staff members were confused and don’t ask about me – you can guess – “A Dead Man standing live!” My brains could not work and from a corner, one of the staff members suggested me, “why don’t you try and call home, you might have left it at home”. Not in a million, I thought. I was sure that my wife had put the money inside the bag otherwise she wouldn’t have placed the bag on the bed as I had directed her to do. I called home and before I could verbally jot out the incident, my wife wouldn’t let me speak and instead spoke first, “I want to tell you one thing, but before I say, promise me you won’t get angry”. I was literally irritated and she said, “I am sorry, but I put the money in the wrong bag”. A mixed feeling of joy and anger ran through my veins. The news brought a sigh of relief to all of the poor staff members and Mr. Rajah Banerjee too couldn’t handle his expression properly, but he was calm and told me that mistakes do happen and there was nothing to worry about.

Normalcy installed, time to bid Makaibari Tea Estate goodbye

After a while everything was normal and the memory was cherished instantly when the accountant of Makaibari Tea Estate and myself sat laughing and chatting sipping in the ethereal silver tips.

The Makaibari Silver Tips got loaded on my vehicle and I bid Mr. Rajah Banerjee goodbye – “Benoy, keep dropping down to Makaibari” with a smiling face that had initially welcomed me. I headed home with a tremendous feeling of joy, happiness and yes of course with a yearning to shout at my wife, but that didn’t happen.

The words of Dalle (Mr. Banerjee’s personal tea maker assistant) still reverberates in my ears “Sir, whatever happens, it happens for good and maybe it was God’s wish which prevented you from really losing your money through other means”. Guess Dalle was right!

Or is it that Fate wanted the whole Makaibari Tea Estate family to remember the incident forever.

Hope you enjoyed reading! Thanks for your time!

Cheers!

Credit: The photo on top, the artwork, is from the very book – “The Wonder of Darjeeling” by Rajah Banerjee