The descendants of Indian Tamil tea plantation workers remain stuck at the bottom of Sri Lankan society. Many of them continue to work under harsh conditions for a meager daily wage.

Tea plants cover the hillside like a green blanket, as a group of women carrying baskets slowly begin moving up the rows like small colored ants.  

We have just arrived in Nanu Oya, a village in the tea-producing highlands of Sri Lanka. For generations, groups of mostly women have worked these hillsides, in tough conditions for little money.

The next day, we meet Cowsalliyadevi Palani as she prepares to go to work. She is 50 years old and has been working in the tea plantations since she was 16.

After putting on several layers of clothing, Palani ties a cloth around her waist as an apron, a scarf around her head and swings her tea-leaf basket onto her shoulders. It will stay on her back all day.

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