Family Secrets

Darjeeling tea, the world’s best. If only one could read the tea leaves as some claim can be done, what stories they would tell. India was a British colony and Darjeeling was the birthplace of this exotic beverage. The British Company of London was the sole exporter and importer. Darjeeling tea was king of all teas, void of any competition or even a comparable brew. Insurmountable profits generated from it. The British prided themselves of their achievement.


The London-based company recruited and trained young and single British and Scottish men as managers for their plantations. The competition for selection was tough. Planters had to be without “social baggage,” full of enthusiasm for adventure, and with fervor to live in a foreign land. Each manager was assigned several acres of a plantation with about a hundred employees, promising prosperity for perseverance. His responsibilities included managing staff and finances and providing correct, precise, and efficient guidelines for the successful harvesting and processing of these precious leaves. He was the CEO in each domain under the company’s structure. His performances were carefully reviewed by the company. Job retention depended on his record. The home office allowed little margin for errors, or rather, close to none at all. This demand for excellence was a highly competitive challenge amongst the planters.