About the author

Bose Creative Publishers

<p><span><strong>Rajah Banerjee</strong>, or Swaraj Kumar Banerjee, is a tea planter, environmentalist and a writer, best known for his stewardship of his ancestral Makaibari Tea Estate in Darjeeling. His family was the proprietor of Makaibari Tea Estate from 1859 to 2017, and he was the fourth generation manager of Makaibari He is a pioneer of the organic movement in Darjeeling. Under his guardianship, Makaibari was made organic and bio - dynamic. He is famous for his unique Silver Needle Moonlight Plucked Teas, which is only plucked at midnight on a full moon's night during the spring season, in Darjeeling. </span></p><p> </p><p><span>Rajah holds the world record for the most expensive tea ever sold in a wholesale auction, at ₹1.11 lakh per kilogram. He has had multiple documentaries made about him like Lord of Darjeeling by Xavier de Lauzanne,<em> Hamro Makaibari</em> by Vikram Rai and has also featured in Vir Sanghvi's series 'A Matter of Taste'. </span></p><p> </p><p><span>During his 44 year tenure at Makaibari, he converted it into "an organic oasis, with a dense forest cover." He is credited with having planted close to 2 million trees at Makaibari, and also creating the Makaibari Joint Body (MBJB) which focused on improving the lives of the community members at the tea estate. Rajah is an ambassador for Darjeeling Tea worldwide. Makaibari was the official tea partner for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, as well as the 2014 FIFA World Cup. On Prime Minister Modi's 2015 visit to the United Kingdom, he gifted a batch of Rajah's special Imperial Needles Darjeeling Tea to the Queen. Rajah now runs the artisanal tea brand - Rimpocha</span></p>