“Silence Flows” _ The Life in Margaret’s Hope Tea Garden, Darjeeling

English subtitled version of Nepali documentary film “Nabolda naboldai”

Available in
English, Bengali, Nepali

Furore over the pitiful situation in the closed tea gardens, malnutrition and starvation deaths are common. But what is the situation in the running tea gardens? How are the workers in the so called ‘well-run’ tea gardens owned by ‘esteemed’ companies doing? In general, how days are spent by the tea workers of hills-terai-dooars?
Margaret’s Hope in Darjeeling is a tea garden owned by Goodricke. A so-called ‘good’ tea garden owned by a ‘good’ company. Looking back, this garden witnessed the incident of firing on workers in 1955, the first firing on workers in ‘independent’ India. 6 people were martyred but the struggle wrested out several facilities for entire tea workers. Some time back, on the occasion of 150 years of the garden, a promotional documentary film was made, which obviously tried to portray this garden as an oasis.
Some local youths decided to find out the reality and portray it. Their journey started. They imagined a song and worked with it. The life in the gardens, the joy and sorrow, the song and the journey intermingled to get the shape of this nepali documentary—‘Nabolda Naboldai’. The English subtitled one is ‘Silence Flows’ and ‘Boye Chole Nirobota’ is the Bengali subtitled one.

Our New Documentary Film : Silence Flows… | नबोल्दा नबोल्दै | বয়ে চলে নীরবতা (Trailer)

 

Documentary Film (60 mins.) on The Life in Margaret’s Hope Tea Garden, Darjeeling

Available in
English, Bengali, Nepali

Furore over the pitiful situation in the closed tea gardens, malnutrition and starvation deaths are common. But what is the situation in the running tea gardens? How are the workers in the so called ‘well-run’ tea gardens owned by ‘esteemed’ companies doing? In general, how days are spent by the tea workers of hills-terai-dooars?
Margaret’s Hope in Darjeeling is a tea garden owned by Goodricke. A so-called ‘good’ tea garden owned by a ‘good’ company. Looking back, this garden witnessed the incident of firing on workers in 1955, the first firing on workers in ‘independent’ India. 6 people were martyred but the struggle wrested out several facilities for entire tea workers. Some time back, on the occasion of 150 years of the garden, a promotional documentary film was made, which obviously tried to portray this garden as an oasis.
Some local youths decided to find out the reality and portray it. Their journey started. They imagined a song and worked with it. The life in the gardens, the joy and sorrow, the song and the journey intermingled to get the shape of this nepali documentary—‘Nabolda Naboldai’. The English subtitled one is ‘Silence Flows’ and ‘Boye Chole Nirobota’ is the Bengali subtitled one.

Title Song of the documentary film “Nabolda Naboldai”

Title Song of the documentary film “Nabolda Naboldai”, based on the life in Margaret’s Hope tea garden, Darjeeling, performed by local youths on the first screening of the film, at Margaret’s Hope tea garden on 3 July 2016.

 

Holidays _story of 3 tea gardens

English subtitled
It was the festive season of 2015. And we traversed through 3 closed tea gardens of Dooars in West Bengal, namely Bagrakote (closed 6 months ago), Madhu (closed a year ago) and Kohinoor (closed a week ago). In this Holidays, people come to visit dooars. We instead visited those people who are surpassing sorrowful holidays itself. This video report goes through a journey from western to eastern dooars… You start from Siliguri towards Alipurduar junction through the picturesque railway route, and you first cross Teesta river to reach Bagrakote Tea Garden, then you cross Torsa river to reach Madhu Tea Estate, and then you cross Kaaljani river, approach further east to reach Kohinoor Tea Garden.

ছুটি : তিনটে চা বাগানের গল্প _Bengali subtitled

২০১৫-এর পুজোর ছুটিতে, যখন সবাই মেতে ওঠেন নানান উত্সবে, বেড়িয়ে পড়েন ভ্রমণে, সেই সময় কেমন আছেন বন্ধ চা বাগানের শ্রমিকরা? কেমন কাটছে তাঁদের উত্সবের দিনগুলো? আসুন যাই একটা সফরে— ডুয়ার্সে তিস্তা নদী পেরিয়ে প্রথমে বাগরাকোট চা বাগান (বন্ধ হয়েছে ৬ মাস আগে), তারপর তোর্সা পেরিয়ে মধু চা বাগান (বন্ধ হয়েছে ১ বছর আগে), এবং সবশেষে আলিপুরদুয়ার পেরিয়ে কোহিনুর চা বাগান (বন্ধ হয়েছে পুজোর এক সপ্তাহ আগে)।

छुट्टी_तीन चियाबगानको कथा_Nepali Subtitled

It was the festive season of 2015. And we traversed through 3 closed tea gardens of Dooars in West Bengal, namely Bagrakote (closed 6 months ago), Madhu (closed a year ago) and Kohinoor (closed a week ago). In this Holidays, people come to visit dooars. We instead visited those people who are surpassing sorrowful holidays itself. This video report goes through a journey from western to eastern dooars… You start from Siliguri towards Alipurduar junction through the picturesque railway route, and you first cross Teesta river to reach Bagrakote Tea Garden, then you cross Torsa river to reach Madhu Tea Estate, and then you cross Kaaljani river, approach further east to reach Kohinoor Tea Garden.

 

 

 

 

Chaay Garam : চায় গরম : चाय गरम — Hot Tea

English

Minimum Wage Act was passed as a legislation in 1948. And it was said to be meant for the workers. But the tea garden workers of Darjeeling hills-Terai-Dooars and Assam are deprived of it. The workers in the tea gardens of southern India are paid much higher in comparison to their counterparts in West Bengal and Assam. The workers are mostly deprived of the benefits they deserve according to the Plantation Labour Act 1951. The entire region goes on witnessing malnutrition-starvation and rally of death. This has become a common scenario in this tea-belt since last 10-15 years.
But things cannot end in just facing deprivation helplessly. At the end it is people, the struggling people, who write the history, the history of winning their own right. An unprecedented struggle is flaring up now in the tea gardens of hills-terai-dooars. Workers from all strata are gathering in the path of struggle. They are demanding for determination and implementation of minimum wage. They would not settle in anything lesser. How could we keep ourselves apart from that heat? Thus comes this film. Snippets of documentation of this historic struggle of the tea garden workers.
Stand beside.

Bengali

ভারতের আইনসভায় ১৯৪৮ সালে গৃহীত হয় মিনিমাম ওয়েজ অ্যাক্ট। যা নাকি ভারতের শ্রমিকদের সুরক্ষার জন্য নির্মিত। অথচ দার্জিলিং পাহাড়-তরাই-ডুয়ার্স ও অসমের চা-বাগান শ্রমিকেরা এ থেকে বঞ্চিত। অত্যন্ত কম মজুরিতে তাঁদের শ্রম দান করতে হয়। দক্ষিণ ভারতের চা-বাগিচাগুলিতে শ্রমিকরা অনেক বেশি টাকা পেলেও পশ্চিমবঙ্গ বা অসমের চিত্রটি আলাদা। শ্রমিকদের এখানে ৯০-৯৫ টাকা দৈনিক মজুরিতেই সন্তুষ্ট থাকতে হয়। ১৯৫১ সালের প্ল্যান্টেশন লেবর অ্যাক্ট অনুসারে বাগান মালিকরা শ্রমিকদের যা-যা সুবিধে দিতে বাধ্য, সেগুলিও এখানকার শ্রমিকেরা বলতে গেলে পান না। গোটা অঞ্চল জুড়ে চলে অনাহার-অর্ধাহারের মৃত্যুমিছিল। গত দশ-পনেরো বছর ধরে যা উত্তরবঙ্গের চা-বাগান অঞ্চলে একটি নিয়মিত অভ্যাস হয়ে দাঁড়িয়েছে।
কিন্তু পড়ে পড়ে মার খাওয়াই তো শেষ নয়। শেষ বিচারে ইতিহাস নির্মাণ করেন লড়াকু মানুষ, অধিকার অর্জনের ইতিহাস। অভূতপূর্ব আন্দোলন দানা বাঁধছে এই সময়ের পাহাড়-তরাই-ডুয়ার্স চা-বাগানগুলিতে। সমস্ত স্তরের শ্রমিকেরা জমা হচ্ছেন লড়াইয়ের ময়দানে। তাঁদের কণ্ঠে একটিই দাবি — ন্যূনতম মজুরি বা মিনিমাম ওয়েজ নির্ধারণ করতে হবে, লাগু করতে হবে। এর থেকে কম কোনও কিছুতেই তাঁরা সংগ্রাম থেকে সরবেন না। আমরাই বা কীভাবে এই গনগনে উত্তাপ থেকে সরে থাকি? তাই এই ছবি। চা-বাগান শ্রমিকদের ঐতিহাসিক লড়াইয়ের খণ্ড দলিল।
পাশে থাকুন।

 

Nepali

भारतको ऐन-सभाले १९४८ सालमा मिनिमम वेज एक्ट पारित गर्यो, जसलाई भारतका श्रमिकहरुको सुरक्षाको निम्ति बनाइएको भनियो। तर पनि दार्जीलिङ पहाड-तराई-डुवर्स र असमका चिया बगानका श्रमिकहरू मिनिमम वेज देखि वञ्चित छन्। अत्यन्त कम ज्यालामा यिनीहरूले आफ्नो श्रम बेच्नुपर्छ। दक्षिण भारतका चिया बगानका श्रमिकहरूले धेरै बेसी ज्याला पाउँछन्, तर बंगाल र असमको चित्र भने बेग्लै छ। यहाँका श्रमिकहरूले ९०-९५ रुपियाँ ज्याला थापेरै सन्तुष्ट हुन पर्दैछ। भनौं भने १९५१ सालको प्लान्टेसन एक्ट अनुसार बगान मालिकहरूले श्रमिकहरूलाई जे-जे सुविधाहरू दिन बाध्य छन् त्यो पनि यहाँका श्रमिकहरूले पाइरहेका छैनन्। समस्त अंचलभरि नै चलिरहन्छ कुपोषण-जिउँदो कंकालको मृत्युको सिलसिला। गत १०-१५ वर्ष देखि नै यहाँको चिया बगानहरूमा यस्तो घटनाहरू दिनचर्या भएर गएको छ।
तर कुटाई मात्रै खाँदै त इतिहास बनिन्दैन। शेष कालमा जुझारु मानिसहरूले नै इतिहास निर्माण गर्छन्, अधिकार आर्जनको इतिहास। यो अभूतपूर्व आन्दोलन पहाड-तराई-डुवर्सको चिया बगानहरूमा गुञ्जीरहेको छ। समस्त स्तरको श्रमिकहरू रणभूमिमा भेला हुँदैछन्। तिनीहरूको आवाजमा एउटै माँग छ— न्यूनतम मजदुरी वा मिनिमम वेज निर्धारण गर्नु पर्छ र लागु गर्नु पर्छ। यो भन्दा कम्ति कुनै सम्झौतामा यिनीहरू संग्रामदेखि पछि हट्नु राजी छैनन्। हामी पनि कसरी यो संग्रामको लप्कोको उत्तापदेखि टाढा बस्न सक्छौं र? त्यसैले यो चलचित्र। चिया बगानका श्रमिकहरूको ऐतिहासिक लडाईको रक्तिम दस्तावेज।
साथ दिनुहोस्।

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