Once a Slave Now a Boss: The (True) Story You Can Now Read on Your Tea Packet

A tea plantation in Kerala, India aims to improve the lives of former bonded workers: the plantation itself is run by survivors of slavery, whose backstories are written on notes posted on each tea packet.

“There will always be work issues, but it will never be like earlier, when I was paid for my hard work with just a little paddy [rice], some porridge and never allowed to quit,” says Sharda Krishnan, co-owner of the tea plantation and ex-slave whose family was rescued from forced farm labor in the 1980s.

The state government gave 900 acres of land to slavery survivors in 1986, providing opportunities for the survivors to use their freedom to create something of their own. Since then, the plantation, Priyadarshini Tea Environs, has diversified, growing pepper and coffee in addition to tea, and even including eco-tourism.

The plantation, which shows off a logo of hands breaking free of chains, has created job opportunities not just for survivors, but also for plantation workers’ children, training them either as tour guides or as hospitality managers in guest rooms.