INDIA: DARJEELING: TEDDY YOUNG, LAST BRITISH TEA PLANTER

English/Nat Tea was discovered growing wild in north-east India in the 1800s and now the Darjeeling hillsides are world-famous for their top-quality, hand-picked tea leaves. A legacy from the days of the British Raj, tea is one of India's biggest exports. While the tea industry lives on, only one British tea planter is left -- born and bred in India and no different from the labourers who work his land. Monsoon rains in Darjeeling mark the busiest season for tea planters. These hillsides, on the footsteps of the Himalayas, are world-famous for their top-quality, hand-picked tea leaves. Tea is one of India's biggest exports and its most prized British legacy. Today, that legacy lives on through Teddy Young, India's last British tea planter. Young's grandfather came to India in the 1860s, at the height of the tea boom. His mother was born on a plantation and Young himself has spent the last 50 years growing and producing tea. It's been a life of hard work and danger. Now 74, Young has survived tribal wars, diseases -- and even spitting cobras. SOUNDBITE: (English) "You had to be damn fit to survive. Because I mean the climactic conditions were such and sickness was such and the non-availability of medicines was such that you just, well you just... kicked the bucket. I mean you just didn't survive." SUPER CAPTION: Teddy Young, Tea Planter It was in the 1800s that an Englishman discovered tea growing wild in north-east India. Darjeeling proved perfect tea terrain, although the industry's pioneers had to hack down thick jungle in order to cultivate the land. From the start, Darjeeling tea proved superior to all others. But even today, it takes an expert planter to know when to pluck the leaves and just how long to dry them. Teddy Young is meticulous about his tea. Each day, he carefully tastes the latest batch for its flavour and colour. His plantation is one of the largest and produces tea that's been equated with the best French wines. But he worries that the industry is changing. SOUNDBITE: (English) "I don't like all the hassles which are involved and connected with tea planting now. But that is with modernisation. You can't avoid it, wherever you go that modernisation is coming." SUPER CAPTION: Teddy Young, Tea Planter Today, Darjeeling houses 70 estates, employing more than 40,000 labourers. Most are the descendants of slaves brought to Darjeeling by the British. But the days of the repressive Raj have been forgotten. Indian born and bred, Young says he's no different from the men and women who work his land. SOUNDBITE: (English) "There's no question of Indian or British as far as I'm concerned. As I just say, I've got more Indian friends than British friends... and very, very good, sincere friends. You can't get friends like that in England." SUPER CAPTION: Teddy Young, Tea Planter Traditionally, planters retire in their 50s. But Young, a bachelor, has refused to give up his job and still works an 11-hour day. He maintains that it is his love of the job that keeps him going. And his fondness for the place that still produces the world's best cup of tea. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/3b1fcb0080a3482c2dc7d131df735195 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork