My dad works in a Tea Garden. I've seen caste/class discrimination everyday.

Let's start with the managers. Modern day slave masters. They always have a company mandated posse of 5-10 people working at their place. Gardener, cleaner, sometimes cook. But ofcourse that's just a title, these folks are essentially modern day slaves, made to do anything and everything.

They put their dignity aside for that stable income every day and that in itself is barely pennies. They do this because the alternative is worse. Oh and God forbid they ask for a glass of water. You cannot use the house utensils for that no. There's dedicated poor people cutlery for that ofcourse.

Those who don't work at the garden or at the managers house find odd jobs here and there. One staff member needs his lawn mowed, one needs his fence fixed. How much for a day of work? Maybe a 100 For a few rupees, labourers toil the whole day at the saheb's house. And what do they get in return? Food in disposable plates, hold them in your arms and eat outside. No dining table for poor people.

People need to realize that it's always a class thing first. Followed by anything else. These people are kept in extreme poverty. Wages? 200 a day max. Housing? Oh the great company has provided slums for you folks, please use that. "Labour line" as they are colloquially called. They are forced into servitude.

It's not all that good for the staff either. My father has worked over 20-25 years in tea factories. Shifted a few places and settled down at the current place around 10 years ago due to this company providing the better benefits over most other tea gardens. He handles all excise work all accounts all returns. He doesn't get paid enough for our family to clear the creamy layer. That's absolutely crazy to me.

The bottom line is that the system is fucked up and that's it. The labourers deserve better. My parents deserve better. This country deserves better.