Pradip Murari’s mother remembers her son and (right) the site near Rani tea estate where the foundation stone of Swahid Bhawan was laid on Tuesday. Pictures by UB Photos

March 22: Till a year ago, Mainu Orang knew little about the larger mechanism of the tea industry beyond picking the right leaves — but that before a bullet fired by the estate’s owner killed a boy and turned the flourishing garden into a graveyard.

A year of hunger and unemployment has forced Orang and many starving workers of Rani tea estate like her to make it their business to understand the tricks of trade and breathe new life into the devastated estate — if only to save their own lives.

On March 22 last year, Mridul Kumar Bhattacharjee, trained his gun on a mob that had gathered outside his bungalow to protest the alleged molestation of a worker of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, killing 14-year-old Pradip Murari.

What followed was a wave of destruction as the enraged mob went about torching everything in their way.

“It has been a difficult year. After the mayhem, no one came forward to help us. But we have decided to look after the tea bushes and make a living by selling these leaves,” said Mainu.

Mainu and others like her had an informal meeting on March 10 to work out a plan.

The idea is to revive the plants and sell the leaves to bought tea factories.

“We have not approached anyone formally but if we get the permission from the authorities concerned we plan to put our words into action,” said Mainu.

A year after the incident, the estate still lies in a shambles, as does the life of Alaka Murari, Pradip’s mother.

“He was my youngest son. How can I forget him?” sobbed Alaka, watching incense sticks being lit in front of her son’s photograph on his first death anniversary.

A year after Pradip was killed, the police are yet to file a chargesheet.

“I was working near the well. I had no idea that Pradip was near the bungalow when the firing took place. If I had known I would never have let him go there,” said Alaka.

At today’s meeting, a foundation stone was laid for a Swahid Bhawan, a community hall to be built in memory of the victim.

While Alaka struggles to live with her tragedy, for Naren Boro, it is a fight to make both ends meet.

“I was a driver at the estate. All the vehicles were burnt when the place was torched. My licence, too, got lost but as I somehow managed to escape the fire,” said Boro.

He now works as a daily wage-earner and a woodcutter. While some plan to bring the tea bushes to life, a few want to fight back with their right to franchise.

“When the incident occurred, local MLA Ramendra Narayan Kalita promised that the guilty would be brought to justice. A year has gone by but the MLA is still to keep his word. This election, we will not vote for him,” said the central president of Sangrami Krishak Sramik Sangha, Dinesh Das. Reviving the estate, however, will be one Herculean task.

It was the only garden in the country to have a captive power plant, a mini-hydel unit and an extensive network of fisheries with 23 acres under aqua cultivation.

Now, the bungalow is in ruins, the factory is a gutted wreck and the tea bushes have grown wild.

Cows and sheep freely graze on the plants which a year earlier were well kept under careful supervision.