Nature's Brew

From the lush grasslands of Kaziranga to an education in biodiversity, Juhi Saklani’s tea trail in Assam turned into much more than she had bargained for

- Juhi Saklani

The colour of this trip is green”, sighs a friend as we gaze at the different shades of emerald that flitter past our windows on the highway. But then, this is Assam. The highway in question is taking us from Guwahati to Balipara, in Sonitpur district, towards the northern edge of Assam where the state rubs cheeks with Arunachal Pradesh. As you traverse the road in the breezy early hours, it runs along this long thin eastward finger, passing by Meghalaya, Manipur, Nagaland, and moving towards Arunachal, while the imposing Brahmaputra remains a constant presence on the map.

The only ‘male’ river in India, the son of Brahma seemed wide, slow and thoughtful, making many sand islands and nursing life along its way. A distinctly different fluid experience was on offer the night before at the new rooftop bar of the Novotel Guwahati GS Road, as our glasses tinkled like wind chimes.

Now, starting early on that green highway, we are moving towards refreshments at the Misa Polo Club, a colonial-era haunt for British officers located in the Kellyden Tea Estate. All old wood and World War photographs, the club makes an extremely pleasant break with its old trees and rolling golf course. The tea factory in the estate is a must-visit for understanding the process of CTC tea making—from maintaining the correct acidity in the soil to sorting, withering, oxidation, rolling and drying the leaves.

In another couple of hours, we reach the Balipara tehsil. Soon, the air begins to feel like some transparent young mountain stream through which you can see the pebbles below. The luminosity is bursting through the leaves, and we have reached the Wild Mahseer estate.