Lal Saa (Black Tea),Seto Pani (White Discharge): Diet and Work in the Tea Plantations of Assam and Darjeeling

Abstract

Through ethnographic exploration at different sites and time periods, along with a critical review of literature, the article examines how diet, wages and workday are embedded in the reproduction of plantation life. It attempts to unpack the meaning of diet and work in the plantations of Assam and Darjeeling and asks what, how and when workers eat as it unravels how the workday and wage relations structure the diets of workers. The article places special emphasis on women workers and their diets as it explores the pertinence of skipping meals and how the condition of lack of food, along with the health ailments of workers, emerges. Epistemologically derived from plantation parlances such as kharcha (wages) and darma katile (wage cutting), the article raises implications for food security, health and nutrition, where the burden on women remains unchanged despite the changed plantation labourscape.