Khumtai (Golaghat), Nov. 27: The lovingly preserved but faded pictures are their only connect to the days when they were toddlers at Khumtai tea estate in Golaghat district of Upper Assam.

Over 80 years later, sisters Isabel and Margaret returned to the tea estate today all the way from Australia, after arriving at Dibrugarh a couple of days back along with their daughters and sons.

“I have very little memories of Khumtai tea estate but I always wanted to come to this place where I spent my childhood,” Isabel, 86, told The Telegraph today. Margaret is 88.

The two sisters were born in Shilllong, where their father John Ross was posted then. They came to Khumtai tea estate in the late 1920s. “My great-grandfather Robert Pringle was the co-owner of Khumtai tea estate and my grandfather worked as a manger here,” Lou McArthur, daughter of Isabel and the leader of the group, said.

Lou said her mother and aunt used to tell them about Khumtai where they had spent their childhood and always wanted to visit. “We did make several attempts earlier to bring them here and finally it worked out,” she beamed.

Altogether 12 members, 10 from the same family and two friends, will move around the tea estate for the next few days before leaving on December 2.

Lou also brought several photographs of her grandfather and great-grandfather, which were taken in and around Khumtai in those days.

“The bungalow in which my mother and aunt used to stay at the tea estate is no more. We learnt that the house was burnt,” she said, while pointing at a photograph of a British-era house with her family members.

“My great-grandfather arrived in India in 1862 and he worked at Cinnamara tea estate in Jorhat district,” she said. Lou said her grandfather was an avid polo player and used to play at Goraijan club located near the tea estate and which is now in a dilapidated condition. Ross left for England in 1931.

The family visited the premises of the club, damaged in a fire that destroyed all the documents pertaining to the club’s history and other activities. The club, which started probably at the same time along with three other clubs in Golaghat district — Golaghat Club, Kakodoonga Club and Dhunseri Polo Club, was known for its polo ground, tennis courts, a golf course and a swimming pool.

Of the three, only Dhunseri Polo Club still stands and attracts planters from different parts of Assam.

The siblings today spent more than three hours at Khumtai tea estate and learnt the process of tea making in the factory.

“This is our first visit to a tea estate and to witness the process of making tea was a great experience,” Lou said.