Suntalekhola is a Nepali name: suntala means orange and khola means stream. People in Samsing say that orange trees once grew along this stream, as they still do in many hill villages of Kalimpong and Sikkim, and that the name stuck long after most of the trees had gone. It is a local explanation; we have not found a written record of the orchards.
The bigger story of Samsing is tea. Samsing Tea Estate covers about 1,200 hectares, with about 900 hectares under tea, and for generations most families in the village have worked in the garden, plucking leaf, pruning bushes and working in the factory.
Gardens in the Dooars have gone through hard times. In 2005 work at Samsing was suspended, affecting about 1,360 workers, part of a wider crisis that closed or stalled many Dooars gardens in those years. Families depended on relief, loans and work elsewhere. The garden later reopened, and plucking goes on today.
Tourism has since added a second income. Homestays, guides, drivers and tea stalls now earn from visitors who come for the slopes, the streams and the cool air. When you buy tea in the village or stay with a family, the money goes to people whose lives are still shaped by the garden.
Sources
- Samsing (Wikipedia)
- Told locally in Samsing
Legends are retold differently from village to village. Where a story is told locally rather than written down, we say so.
