{"id":575,"date":"2019-05-28T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-05-28T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/en.ctma.com.cn\/index.php\/2019\/05\/28\/the-grand-old-man-of-indian-tea\/"},"modified":"2026-04-29T11:24:00","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T11:24:00","slug":"the-grand-old-man-of-indian-tea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/en.ctma.com.cn\/index.php\/2019\/05\/28\/the-grand-old-man-of-indian-tea\/","title":{"rendered":"The Grand Old Man of Indian Tea"},"content":{"rendered":"

KOOMTAI,<\/strong> Assam<\/p>\n

Sagar Mehta <\/p>\n

Forty years ago executives of Goodricke Group, which had just split from Duncan Brothers & Company Ltd., sent one of their best estate managers to Koomtai Tea Estate, a company-owned garden in Assam\u2019s Golaghat district. His mission was to assess whether to sell off the sick property or revive it.<\/p>\n

The manager, who was among the first batch of Indian tea executives to have been recruited by the British tea companies in India, had made a name for himself serving at the Gandhapara Tea Estate in the Dooars region of West Bengal. But three years after he arrived in Koomtai, despite his concerted efforts, huge losses continued. Goodricke decided to divest.<\/p>\n

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The garden was subsequently sold to an Indian owner.<\/p>\n

The twist in the tale is that the new owners offered to keep Goodricke\u2019s man to manage the garden. He was authorized to do whatever was required for its revival.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter consulting with my Goodricke bosses who offered me full retirement benefits. I decided to stay at Koomtai,\u201d recalled Sagar Mehta. \u201cMy new bosses gave me a free hand and today the garden is making 2 million kilograms of made tea\u2014more than double what it produced during those days. Thanks to the support I got from the workers, they have become my family,\u201d said Mehta, the grand old man of Indian tea. Mehta was to retire from Goodricke in 5 to 6 years.<\/p>\n

Sagar Mehta <\/p>\n

Mehta, who turned 90 on May 5, is now the oldest serving tea garden executive in India. He says he is in no mood to hang up his boots. \u201cI spent almost my entire life in tea and have miles to go,\u201d he told World Tea News<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Koomtai Tea Estate, owned by the Badulipar Tea Company, has six divisions: Hinderting, Goriajan, Badulipar, Bonn and Batlikhooa, with a total of 1,126 hectares under tea. It is considered one of the prime tea gardens in Assam, producing quality tea year after year. The garden, which is the largest in the district, employs an executive team of 10 with 247 on staff managing 2,378 permanent workers and 1,200 casual workers, and continues to expand.<\/p>\n

Mehta is now president of the company, yet he stays in the manager\u2019s bungalow on the tea estate. He visits the garden regularly. \u201cI make it a point to visit the garden and the factory every day, apart from Sundays, despite the fact that I have eight officers to assist me. I know each and every tea bush in the garden,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Mehta\u2019s day starts at 4 a.m. After an hour or so of meditation, a shower and a few morning chores at home. He is off to his office, arriving at 7 a.m. sharp. \u201cThis has been my routine since the day I landed up in this garden in 1978,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Mehta\u2019s 65-year tryst with tea started in 1954 when he joined the Gandhapara tea estate in the Dooars region. \u201cSoon after a year-long course in labor management at the All India Institute of Personnel Management, Calcutta, I joined as an executive at Duncan Brothers & Company Ltd. and was among the first batch of Indian officers recruited by the British in tea then,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In 1965, during his tenure as manager, Kilcotta Tea Estate in Dooars was awarded the Tea Board of India\u2019s top recognition for tea grown in the Dooars.  <\/p>\n

Many in the tea industry view Mehta as a father figure due to his vast experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cMr. Mehta is an institution by himself having served the industry for such a long period and still going strong,\u201d said Abid Rahman, CEO of Tea Valley, a newly launched tea brand in India. \u201cThough I never got an opportunity to work with him, I did work at an estate where he served decades ago. He is remembered and respected to this day. Very, very few individuals would have worked so many years and contribute so much in their lifetime.<\/p>\n

Rahman was a former senior manager of Goodricke Group who served the company for more than two decades before taking up the Tea Valley venture last year. <\/p>\n

Sagar Mehta <\/p>\n

Tea Board India chairman, Prabhat Kamal Bezbaruah has known Mehta since he joined his father\u2019s tea business about four decades back and remains in touch.<\/p>\n

\u201cApart from his knowledge in tea, Sagar enjoys golfing,\u201d Bezbaruah recalls. \u201cHe still plays 18-hole rounds and another 9 holes fairly regularly. I have been fortunate to play many such rounds with him starting when he was a septuagenarian and extending to when he became an octogenarian. A true sport, who played the great game like a gentleman, this spirit permeated all aspects of his life,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Be it good times or bad times, Mehta has seen all in the Indian tea industry.<\/p>\n

\u201cLabor management and climate change have become major challenges in the industry today,\u201d observed Mehta. He recalled that in earlier days there was no opposition from workers, making labor issues much easier to handle. \u201cNow the workers have to be consulted before taking any major decisions in the garden,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Uneven distribution of rainfall is another challenge faced by tea gardens. \u201cIt has been raining continuously for nearly 10 days now, it was not like this earlier,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Driving his white colored Gypsy through a narrow track amidst the lush green tea bushes at Koomtai, Mehta stops suddenly. He alights from his vehicle and walks to a distinct patch of tea bushes, closely observing their color and vigor. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis patch is infected with pests, do the needful,\u201d Mehta instructs an assistant, who has been monitoring tea pluckers nearby. It\u2019s the second flush at Koomtai and Mehta remains in the prime of life.<\/p>\n

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