Two Leaves And A Rebellion

A few thousand women in the hill ranges of Munnar challenge the male dominated trade unions of Kerala.

- Charmy Harikrishnan

A woman screamed this slogan, in Tamil, before the office of Kanan Devan Hills plantations company in Munnar. A couple of thousand women, milling around, echoed her even as mist climbed down the green hill ranges blanketed with tea shrubs: “Pembillaiorumai zindabad.” It was an astute twist to a slogan that Malayalees have been familiar with: “Thozhilali aikyam zindabad (Long live workers’ union)!” These women were all labourers —in fog and rain, across 24,000 hectares of hilly region, they shear tea leaves for Kanan Devan—but here they invoked their gender to assert that this is their own fight. They shouted in their language, Tamil, in Kerala’s most famous hill resort:

“Paniyeduppathu naangalu/ kollayeduppathu neengalu (We work / You exploit)

Kolunthukutta edukkathu naangalu/ panakkutta amukkathu neengalu (We carry bags of tea/ You hoard bags of money)

Potta layangal naangalkku/ AC bungalow ungalkku (Old stables for us/ AC bungalows for you)

Tamil medium naangalkku/ English medium ungalkku (Tamil medium for us/ English medium for you)

Chicken, dosa ungalkku/ kaadi kanji naangalkku (Chicken and dosa for you/ stale rice water for us).”