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The Chinese touch behind Indian tea: documentary shows sweeter side of historical ties
- ‘Those 4 Years’ examines role Chinese convicts and workers played in bringing tea cultivation to the Nilgiri mountain range in southern India
- The documentary, set to be released in Hong Kong in January, validates the little-known migratory link between the two countries, director says
Reading Time:4 minutes
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Kunal Purohitin Mumbai
At a time when ties between India and China stand at their lowest in decades, a new documentary reveals a different dimension to the neighbourly relationship.
Those 4 Years looks at a little-known strand of migration from 1865 to 1869 – of Chinese convicts and workers to the Nilgiri mountain range in southern India and their role in bringing tea cultivation to the region. These convicts and workers – all men – were tasked with growing tea in a region that was once known for its coffee plantations.
The result of those efforts today is thousands of hectares of lush, green tea plantations and a famous Indian export – Nilgiri tea.
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Conceived, directed and shot by Joe Thomas Karackattu, an assistant professor of Chinese studies at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, the documentary traces the journeys of Chinese convicts and workers across southern India, Hong Kong and Malaysia, and even tracks down descendants of the convicts who are scattered throughout southern India, many of whom still live in the Nilgiris, or Blue Mountains.
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The documentary is conspicuous for its timing – it comes as memories of this seminal moment in the history of ties between the two countries have been pushed into the shadows and as the two nations today maintain what military officials in India say is a state of “no peace, no war”.
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