"These people [tea pickers in Assam] feel they have been left behind in the journey of progress. Unrest is bound to happen," says Delhi-based Anirudh Goswami who grew up in a tea estate in Upper Assam and has seen life in a tea garden from close quarters. It's not surprising, adds Goswami, that labour lines today are a scene of depression. "Even though some companies like Williamson Magor and Tata Tea have been improving the lot of the workers, many others have simply not bothered," he says.