The Robusta Coffee bushes at Chikkanahally Estate were laden with ripe, red coffee cherries during my visit to Coorg in Jan this year.

Ripe coffee cherries

The harvest had just commenced, so after my evening coffee, I stepped out of the estate bungalow with my camera and walked slowly along the rough mud road to the Coffee yard, 500m away. During this season, the day’s harvested coffee is brought into the coffee yard every evening.

On reaching the coffee yard, I realized that it was Republic Day, and so a holiday for the estate. Anthony was working on the BBQ (That is what they call the yard where the coffee is sun dried).

Anthony at the BBQ

He was using a wooden comb-like rake to turn the beans over by running the rake in big circles over the spread coffee parchment beans (Coffee cherries with the red skin and mucilage removed through the process of pulping).

Anthony, with his weather-beaten looks, is an old hand at the estate. I asked him how old he was and for how long he has been working at Chikkanahally Estate. He was not very sure of his age and that didn’t seem to bother him a bit. He said he’s been with the estate for 15 years. I am sure I have seen him when I was a young boy, at least 30 years back, at the estate. I realized that I was more concerned about his age and years of service than he was. He seemed at perfect peace with himself.

A white-browed wagtail was flitting around.

White-browed Wagtail (Motacilla maderaspatensis)

On closer observation, I found that he had only one leg. A survivor, I thought.

White-browed Wagtail (Motacilla maderaspatensis)

He seems to be managing perfectly well in his unsympathetic world where any sign of weakness means becoming fodder for the raptors and other predators.

Morning glory (Ipomoea purpurea)

The morning glory blooms cascading over the chain link fence of the coffee yard took on a hint of gold from the evening sun, supporting my trust and hope in life inspired by Anthony and the sprightly little wagtail.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 15th, 2010 at 4:00 PM and is filed under Birds, Flora, Plantation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.