Description
Tea pluckers are an essential group of employed community that strengthen the most revenue generating economy of Sri Lanka. Whatever the high price and quality acquired by Ceylon tea is mainly due to the outgoing dedication, commitment, craftsmanship and skills put on field by the experienced tea pluckers who have spent most of their lives on the surroundings of hill country tea estates. They are a group of people who are employed at minimum wage, mostly living in shanties closer to the estate they work. Most of their basic needs are fulfilled by the estate owning company, access to water, sanitation facilities, electricity, crèches for children and medical are some of the main benefits provided for tea pluckers in Sri Lanka. Their generation is identified to derive from India who have been located in the hill country to work for estates. Generally they live well below the poverty line as most of their incomes are spent on daily groceries, medicine facilities and education for children. Whilst there are some estates that provide medical and education free of charge for its workers, yet certain tea pluckers have to spend their own earnings on these basic necessities. On average a tea plucker works on a single estate for over twenty and thirty years’ time, as they enter into this career at a very little age of sixteen and continue on the same job until over fifties, most of their lives are spent on plucking tender tea leaves and buds from the mesmerizing tea fields of the country.Tea pluckers are mostly women and their daily routine begin early at around four or five as the dawning sun rise from the west merrily bringing cheer to the mildly moisten tea leaves on yards of tea plantations. Tea pluckers’ day begins by preparing tea, breakfast and lunch for the family, they usually take with them the breakfast and lunch packet for work and then they ready their children for nursery. Tea pluckers’ generally wears loose fitting clothes to tackle with the unexpected weather conditions at the fields, also covering their heads with a scarf like protective to be safe from scorching sun and humid falls. They tie the basket tight on to their backs to which they toss the leaves they pluck. And with complete best affordable gear they walk mostly with bare foot to tea estate they work for and begin plucking leaves from the bottom of the hill roughly around the time of eight in the morning.
