Planters' Punch

Oindrila Banerjee was born in Assam and grew up in the tea plantations when the industry was going through major changes. She began her career as a journalist. Her book lucidly reflects the wild, yet serene, charm of tea plantation life, its archaic ambience and intriguing variety as seen through the eyes of a growing child and seasoned planters who spent their entire working lives in the gardens. It was a life packed with adventure, old colonial charm, wildlife, eerie romanticism all rolled into one; apart from a spirit of bonhomie and hectic socializing in the vast wilderness. As she grew up, this life of carefree abundance was replaced by fear and turmoil with a rise in insurgent violence and terrorism, tearing to shreds the serenity of the idyllic province which had nurtured in its womb the first seeds of the grand saga of tea cultivation in India. Her book also throws relevant light on the history of the tea industry through its many trials and tribulations, besides some glimpses of provincial history.,And finally, being regarded as the finest commercial enterprise of colonial history and an entirely Raj phenomenon, the book also traverses through the last rays of the sunset of British imperialism.Banerjee, Oindrila is the author of 'Planters' Punch', published 2004 under ISBN 9781413734195 and ISBN 1413734197.