This gripping memoir narrates the journey of Rajah Banerjee, a fourth-generation Darjeeling tea grower who became a tree planter after a riding accident. Because of his calling, Rajah pioneered biodynamics, global tea organics, and tropical agriculture, which changed how tea is grown in India and how it can impact the community. His ancestral tea estate, Makaibari, transformed from colonial, hierarchical management techniques into a premier hub for the holistic improvement of rural communities.
When the entire region, including the tea estates, closed down during the violent Gorkhaland uprising in the 1980s, these synergies were crucial in keeping Makaibari safe. That was the power of holistic, sustainable synergy. Rajah became a celebrity vagrant, when his 160-year-old ancestral home was destroyed by a terrible fire in 2017. This didn't discourage him from mentoring five abandoned Darjeeling hamlets.
The low-cost, self-funded, carbon-neutral, regenerative farming methods known as the Rimpocha programs have met all 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
This book can be read by entrepreneurs, tea lovers, tea planters, business school students, historians, and those who love to read fascinating tales of real life about freshly brewed Darjeeling tea.
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