Rolling forward: Assam tea rides bicycle balls for quality control

Ballometric system of separating fine leaves from the coarse involves 100 steel balls of 1 gm each from the rear wheel of a standard bicycle

The tilinga (bell) of a bicycle and the power of its pedal have been woven into popular, romantic Assamese songs. The ball bearings in the rear wheel of the common man’s mode of transport are now helping infuse quality into the cup of tea that often brews romance or business in Assam. The 110-year-old Tocklai Tea Research Institute in eastern Assam’s Jorhat had in the 1950s developed the ballometric method for separating fine tea leaves from the coarse ones to ensure quality. While many of Assam’s 803 major tea estates have been following this method, the unorganised sector has largely avoided it.