davidblacker

Dawn Ritual

A Hindu tea plucker in Sri Lanka's Central Highlands places a "Bindi" (or "pottu", as it is known in the local Tamil language) on her f...
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A Hindu tea plucker in Sri Lanka's Central Highlands places a "Bindi" (or "pottu", as it is known in the local Tamil language) on her forehead in the predawn darkness before leaving her home for a hard day picking tea leaves on the steep slopes. Plantation workers like this woman were originally brought in from South India by the British colonial administration to work in near slavery to produce some of the world’s most famous tea brands. After decades of statelessness in independent Sri Lanka, they were eventually granted citizenship, but still live almost as they did a century ago, in poverty, picking tea for a daily wage.
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