Following is the text of the letter by Ian and Judy to the President of UAAUK Dr Ranjit Baruah. Ian and Judy graced 'Assam Day 2009' as our special guests and shared their long experience spanning many decades of working in tea gardens of Assam with fond and nostalgia.
Dear Ranjit and Suni,
Thank you for a most memorable and enjoyable two days as guests of UAAUK, and your generous hospitality. Also, Judy wishes me to convey her thanks for the lovely bouquet of flowers. She was very touched by this presentation.
Although strangers, we were welcomed with such friendliness by everyone, and with the many connections we discovered between your members and with friends and colleagues I had known, it made it feel as if I had come home. I am especially happy that Judy has met some of the delightful people amongst whom I had lived for so long, and seen something of the songs and dances of Assam.
I have recommended your website to a friend of mine, Lily Das, a lady of Nagaland, whose husband was with Williamson and Magor in Assam and in Calcutta. I hope she will contact you. Lily is active in the Kohima Association.
Should you wish to publish an article about UAAUK in one or both of two magazines that come out of Assam, I will put you in contact with the editor of The WM Times, a House Journal of Williamson & Magor. The other is The Camellia, a Tea Planters In-House magazine, edited by Shalini Mehra of Nudwa Tea Estate. Alan Lane is the representative here. Another source of contacting members for UAAUK is The Koi. Hai Directory, Editor Clive Roberson, 32 Sinah Lane, Hayling Island, PO11 0HH. I'll try to get an email address for you.
Again, very many thanks for introducing us to your members and for a delightful weekend.
With very best wishes,
Iain and Judy