Chai Time - A Darjeeling Tea Planter's Journey From Makaibari to Rimpocha

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. Rajah Banerjee, or Swaraj Kumar Banerjee, is a tea planter, environmentalist and a writer, best known for his stewardship of his ancestral Makaibari Tea Estate in Darjeeling. His family was the proprietor of Makaibari Tea Estate from 1859 to 2017, and he was the fourth generation manager of Makaibari He is a pioneer of the organic movement in Darjeeling. Under his guardianship, Makaibari was made organic and bio - dynamic. He is famous for his unique Silver Needle Moonlight Plucked Teas, which is only plucked at midnight on a full moon's night during the spring season, in Darjeeling. Rajah holds the world record for the most expensive tea ever sold in a wholesale auction, at ₹1.11 lakh per kilogram. He has had multiple documentaries made about him like Lord of Darjeeling by Xavier de Lauzanne, Hamro Makaibari by Vikram Rai and has also featured in Vir Sanghvi's series 'A Matter of Taste'. During his 44 year tenure at Makaibari, he converted it into "an organic oasis, with a dense forest cover." He is credited with having planted close to 2 million trees at Makaibari, and also creating the Makaibari Joint Body (MBJB) which focused on improving the lives of the community members at the tea estate. Rajah is an ambassador for Darjeeling Tea worldwide. Makaibari was the official tea partner for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, as well as the 2014 FIFA World Cup. On Prime Minister Modi's 2015 visit to the United Kingdom, he gifted a batch of Rajah's special Imperial Needles Darjeeling Tea to the Queen. Rajah now runs the artisanal tea brand - Rimpocha