By Lt Col Thomas Varghese (Retd)
“O Valley” is an abbreviation for the name of a plantation company called “Ouchterlony Valley Estates Ltd” located at Gudalur area in the Nilgiris, producing mainly coffee, tea and cardamom, which was started by a European settler by name General James Ouchterlony who came to the Nilgiris in 1842. Gudalur is a very important place in Nilgiris, about 50 km away from Ootacamund towards the tri junction of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka, which can be arguably called “Golden Gate to Ooty”. “O Valley” is an exclusive plantation zone extending over a 15km stretch, covering an area of over 22000 acres, having tea and coffee estates and large forest area. It is a Panchayat, while Gudalur is now a Municipality.
The topography of the area is diverse, with mountains and cliffs climbing towards Ooty, connected by a hilly road having numerous hair pin bends. It has scenic beauty all around with its streams, waterfalls, flora and fauna. The lower areas of the hills are ideal for coffee cultivation while higher slopes are suitable for Tea plantation. John Sullivan, the founder of European settlement in Ootacamund and Nilgiris, then Collector of Coimbatore was the pioneer promoter of coffee, tea and cinchona plantations in the Nilgiris.
Interestingly, the early planters had army background, perhaps due to their vast experience in the North African campaign in the 1st World War and from the jungles of Burma in the 2nd WW. No ordinary person could have thought of such an arduous task of daring in to the jungles of Niligiris because of the obvious odds against, the dense and fearsome forest, frightening wild life, inclement weather, vulnerability to all types of health hazards and above all the inaccessibility, even on foot. Man is basically nomadic, moving around mainly for his wants and needs. The aim of migration of human being has been to attain “prosperity” for self or for a larger number, but the reasons causing migrations vary. For poverty stricken, it is for earning a living, while for the economically better off it is wealth accumulation. The Britishers who came to India fell mostly under the second category.
England and Scotland were separate countries till early 1700s and by way of a referendum conducted in Scotland in 1707 it became part of England to form the present UK. That gave big opportunities for the Scots to come to India and join the East India Company since then. By 1771, more than half of the writers, engineers and surveyors of the company were all Scots, who were followed by planters, traders, teachers and missionaries impacting the transformation of the primitive Indian society in to an awakening community, as well converting the sleepy land in to productive land masses.In contrast to the English man, the Scottish man, in my observation, is more robust, enterprising, adventurous and go-getters. Characteristic difference is like the hard pack ice cream and the cloudy softy. Indian Army still maintains lot of Scottish army traditions, the pipe band of the infantry units is an example for that. Besides keeping the morale of the troops high with their music, they perform duties of stretcher bearers in the war and also provide first aid to the war casualties.
One such Scot was General James Ouchterlony who came to the Nilgiris in 1842 to become a “Planter”. In order to do that, he leased 20000 acres of contiguous land having an average elevation ranging between 900-1300mt, from Thacharakari Thirumulpad of the Nilambur Kovilagam in 1847, to open coffee plantations. He formed a company known as the “Ouchterlony Valley Estates Ltd”, (shortly called “O Valley Estates”), and planted coffee and tea in selected areas with the help of laborers mostly from remote places in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Waynad in Kerala. First planting of coffee was done in Lauristone Estate by a Jamaican planter by name Mr. Wright. Later, tea was planted on the higher elevation areas of Arattupara near New Hope. O Valley comprised of number of estates named New Hope, Glenvans, Guynd, Tulloes, Kelly, Lauriston,Suffolk, Mulakkad, Helen and Barwood.
Incidentally, my father Late Mr. N.C.Varghese was a senior long time field head of four larger estates: Tulloes, Glenvans, Mulakkad and New Hope during his 35 year tenure with the company before his retirement by end of 1960s. That is the very reason that I have an interest in writing this. I dedicate this story to him for his immense contributions towards the growth of O Valley, with untiring dedication and absolute loyalty.
In the year 1927, O Valley was inherited by one James Henry Wapshare who lived in Naduvattam (about 15 km from Gudalur towards Ooty) with his wife Nellie, daughters Violet and Dorothy and sons Edward and James in their estates, Burnside and Compton. He took a loan of Rs. 10.5 lakhs from Imperial Bank of India in 1927 under a debenture trust deed to finance the purchase of O.V. Estates, later registered as “Ouchterlony Valley Estates Pvt.Ltd”. The loan was to be repaid by 15 November, 1937 as per the agreement. However, he could not repay the loan as agreed upon and the bank was pressing for the repayment. There was a big slump in the coffee and tea prices in 1836 which compounded the problem further.So, the family wanted to sell the property to return the loan and thus avoid taking over the property by the mortgage company to which it was pledged. They got an offer of Rs.14 lakhs from one A.L.&Co for the entire property which included the Naduvattam estates. On a second thought, the family decided to retain the Naduvattam property and sell only O Valley. Prolonged negotiations took place with the Wapshares by the mortgage company represented by M/S Peirce Leslie & Co. Ltd and the Imperial Bank of India, and a price of Rs.10.5 lakhs was arrived at for the O Valley property alone.
Meanwhile, the unexpected happened. James Henry Wapshare died on 18 May, 1937, at the age of 67, leaving behind his widow, sons and daughters to fend for themselves. Having cleared the bank loan, the property was already in the hands of the mortgage company, though the legal transactions took some time and eventually M/S Peirce Leslie & Co. Ltd took possession of O Valley on 14 Jan 1939.As a result, instead of attaining prosperity for which Wapshare migrated to Nilgiris, the family ended up being on the brink of bankruptcy. Look at the “irony of fate” and destiny’s unpredictability that the family faced at that time besides the loss of the bread winner. I wonder how true were the sign postings on those winding roads down which read “EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED”. Likewise, there were two information boards at the entrance of a Church, the top one read “WELCOME” , and the bottom said, “TRESSPASSERS WILL BE PROSECUTED”, that means that even God says, “Life Is Like That”, which teaches us a big lesson that the “circus should continue to keep the trapeze swinging”.
O Valley had been doing well in the hands of the Managing Agents since then, but suddenly in 1950 something untoward happened. The family consisting of Nellie (wife of late James Wapshare) and daughters Violet and Dorothy instituted a suit against the management of O Valley accusing them of fraudulent practices during the transaction of 1937 and hence the property should go back to them as rightful heirs. The mired legal tangle went on for long from Madras High Court to Supreme Court handled by eminent layers, but the family could not convincingly evidence their stand, and therefore the case was dismissed in favor of the owners of O Valley.
In 1965, the owners of O Valley represented by M/S Peirce Leslie & Co. Ltd sold the estates to one B.M.Bajoria, who in turn transferred it to a business man named Bishwanatha Junjunvala in 1969. Within a short time, it was taken over by the well known Calcutta industrialist B K Birla, who later gifted it to his daughter Manjushree Khaitan in 1971.Thus the legendary “O Valley Estates” had been renamed as Manjushree Plantations Limited with its head office at New Hope. It is learnt from various sources that the garden has lost its old charm and worth, and the tea planted first time in Arattupara has outgrown to become trees, so divergent to the level maintained tea fields of yester years. Yet, “O Valley” continues to survive because of its resilience and the undying spirit of its founders. Manjushree Plantations is still aromatic with its packaged tea brands in the market. But its balance sheet does not show any vibrancy commensurate with the largeness of the original O Valley. By the way, my e-mail ID is “tomnewhope@yahoo.co.in”, because of our family’s nostalgic attachment to New Hope.
James Ouchterlony and James Wapshare could never go back to UK like most of the English men did. It seems they were buried in O Valley only. Some remnants of Wapshares, his grandsons through his one son married to an Indian woman, live at Naduvattam holding the fort based on a “Succession Certificate” obtained from court. One of the daughters who was living there had gone to UK for treatment, and in her absence they had taken possession of her bungalow also, according to their watsapp messages. On does not know the present state, except that it is a “fait accompli”. Nonetheless, there is still a ray of hope because our legal system provides for a remedy if there is a right and when a wrong is done against that, as contained in the Latin maxim, “Ubi jus ibi remedium”.
In conclusion, I can only say that the series of events which had taken place in O Valley during almost a century have been so intriguing, like that of a Shakespearean melodrama. It is a coincidence that the spirits of the main characters are on site watching the evolutionary changes of that place. May the souls of those pioneers “Rest in Peace”, amidst the greenery of coffee and tea they planted for posterity.