When I was in my mid-teens, my brothers and I were afforded several trips to our dad’s tea estate in Bandarawela. One way of nurturing our need for boyish pranks was to pull at the sarongs that some of the estate workers wore; and lo and behold, most of them never wore underwear! But there was this one person called Kesavan, the community headman, and when we tried our pranks on him he offered no resistance. To our surprise he wore underwear and even clean clothes. Later we came to know through my parents that ‘The Kesavans’ were members of an educated clan and their roots were in South India; hence it was no surprise to know that ‘The Kesavans’ were one of the first members of the estate sector to add pieces of clothing to complete their attire.

Several years after ‘our Kesavan’ died, we hear of estate Tamils celebrating 200 years after arriving from India. That milestone was marked in 2023. But still we hear of never ending complaints from the Estate Tamils about not being paid a reasonable wage amongst other grumblings. Throughout this editorial I’ll refer to this protagonist as ‘Our Kesavan’ because he lived at a time when the estate Tamils associated themselves with the Indian label. But fast forward the clock to present times and the estate labourers of today want to shed the Indian label and embrace the label ‘Malaiyaha Tamils’. They want this identity established fast, at least for the sake of newborns of the next generations. The estate sector Tamils don’t want their newborns to be referred to as ‘Indian Tamils’. They want the label Malaiyaha Tamil to be official and be included in the birth certificates of all newborns.
Like Prabakaran gave Tamils of a lesser caste something to lean on, The Thondamans gave the estate Tamils a breath of fresh air and hope when the chips were down and working conditions were appalling in the estates. The Thondamans-Savumiamoorthy and Arumugam-who worked as representatives of estate Tamils are no more. ‘Our Kesavan’ spoke fondly of the senior Thondaman, but he was crafty enough to fend for himself and win his rights. We never saw ‘Our Kesavan’ plucking tea! He was always the Kangany; the headman or the supervisor who distributed work to workers, who didn’t exercise any authority. My dad entertained him (as in roping him for conversations) because ‘Our Kesavan’ spoke some English and could communicate adequately when my dad made inquiries about work, crop and opportunities for workers in other plantations. But most of the estate Tamils didn’t make him a role model and their representative. In fact he was labelled as an employee who batted for the employer and not for the labourer.
‘Our Kesavan’ didn’t take loans, hardly complained, was punctual and was proud about who he was. For the sheer luck of the estate management he never sided with the unions and troublemakers in estates. He spoke on behalf of workers, had work ethics and also standards as a human being. He should have lived in these present times where there are a few representatives of Tamil people in parliament, but not really individuals who’ll speak out in support of Estate Tamils. This is the real dilemma of the estate Tamils; there is no one to carry their fight in parliament.

The fifth and sixth generations of Estate Tamils have moved out of the ‘line rooms’ and work in Colombo and also where there are better opportunities. When people belonging to these generations want to meet the Grama Sevaka (GS) to get a certification, the GS tells them to bring a letter from the estate manager; a request which is often turned down due to the lack of the latter’s presence in the estate. Despite much promises being made to the estate Tamils, they remain a disadvantaged community.
The present generation of estate Tamils want to shed the Indian tag. ‘Our Kesavan’ wore the Indian label as a medal of honour. He died many moons ago. From wherever he is, he may be trying to convey to the estate workers to stay close to the Indian label till the next ‘Talaivar’ comes along.