Trouble in the Tea Gardens by Mitali Perkins
My take on the book:
Sona, a twelve-year-old Nepali girl lived with her mother and her elder brother Samiran Daju in Darjeeling; her brother struggled to run his small eatery or find a new job as his love affair with a neighbor’s daughter ended with him being branded wrongly as a thief. Sona’s mother worked as a tea plucker at a local tea estate which gave her family free accommodation of their tiny house.
Sona is preparing to clear an English exam which will help her get a scholarship; though fluent in Nepalese, Bangla and a bit of Hindi, Sona struggled to self-prepare for this English exam. The extreme shortage of water in her locality also meant Sona spent considerable part of her day waiting in long queues, fetching water from a local spring and using it sparingly for all daily needs. If Sona failed to clear the English test, she had to join her mother’s profession, which motivated her to work extra hard for the exam.
Tara di shifted to Sona’s neighborhood to stay with her uncle after Tara lost both her parents during Covid pandemic. Tara’s uncle is referred as goonda by the local people as he worked as a supervisor at the tea estate and behaved rudely with everyone. When Tara’s ancestral gold is stolen from her house, fingers are pointed at Sona’s neighbor Kaki and Sona’s brother Samiran Daju. Will Sona be able to find the real culprit and clear names of Kaki and her brother forms the rest of the story.
The story traces the life of a young girl in a small town who had multiple challenges but still showed resilience, presence of mind, integrity and honesty when situation arises. The story perfectly depicts life in a small town — how people help and support each other as a community, how personal relationships and trust are more valued than money.
Sona’s search for the lost gold is also well designed by the author — it is not just blind search for something valuable, as Sona uses her wit to handle each search in a different manner, while being brave. The story also highlights the class difference — when gold or anything valuable is missing, how the families from lower financial backgrounds are easily blamed overlooking the greedy individuals from richer families; locals struggle for daily water but tourists at hotels have enough water to waste or swim in.
The story also showcases Sona’s dilemmas between friendship and family and how she takes sensible decisions at a young age. The backdrop of Darjeeling is not just atmospheric but also highlights the local problems. With themes of community, friendship, family and resilience, Trouble in the Tea Gardens is a good read for young kids.
My rating:
4/5.