Abstract:
When you sip a delicious cup of Ceylon tea, you tend to forget the silenced histories
behind its journey. The tea industry, one of Sri Lanka’s biggest industries, thrives on
the labour of Malaiyaha Tamil women workers, the backbone of the tea industry in Sri
Lanka. While Tea is a profitable commodity to the country’s economy, the hands that
pluck its leaves undergo hardships and struggles. Women on plantations experience
gender discrimination, marginalization and oppression. They are doubly marginalized by
the exploitative structures both within their homes and society. Even in the 21st century,
the Malaiyaha community is amongst the most deprived and oppressed community in
Sri Lanka, often living in dismal conditions, poverty, limited access to education and
healthcare. This study explores the representation of Malaiyaha Tamil women in Sri
Lankan poetry and short stories, focusing on women’s struggles, hardships, labour
exploitation, dual burden, marginalization, domestic violence and resistance. With
the diverse perspectives of male writers and female writers, this study probes into
narratives revolving around women’s lived experiences in the estates. These narratives
and poems voice opposition to the oppression, discrimination and marginalization that
the community faces. The long-rooted histories of the community that are erased and
silenced are uprooting as powerful literature to critique romanticized narratives about
the “Tea Gardens”. My work intends to uncover the lived realities of Malaiyaha Tamil
women through literary texts. These works do not present women as only victims of
suffering, oppression and violence but also as agents of resisting silence.
