Gowri reminisces about the two elderly characters at their tea estate - the cook and the carpenter.

The poor old man would arrive at work early in the morning, hunched up and shivering. He’d go home for his breakfast and bath and come back at around eleven o’clock, now walking straight, and actually looking younger. We would ask him if he was himself or a younger brother. He’d give us his trademark crooked grin in reply … Bawarchi’s shopping lists were unique. He had a strong sense of loyalty to the old British Sahibs and his idea of ‘essentials’ seemed to be based on a longing for those bygone days. At the top of the list, I’d find, not rice, sugar, and atta and so on, but corn flour, Worcester sauce, beans and carrots … The only ‘baksheesh ‘ that the old man ever wanted was a ‘Thank you!’

Biren was really an artist. Wood was something he understood, and he must have picked up his craft from the Chinese carpenters who worked in tea gardens many years ago. There are some glass fronted cupboards made by him with carved wooden frames of classic Chinese design. He once made an oval picture-frame, and gave it a perfect gloss. The joints in the frame are invisible. He carved us two or three fine walking sticks as well. He loved appreciation, and he had a lovely smile that lit up his face with kindness and goodness.