Being a tea seller is becoming a rage, a new mushrooming profession in the country. Back in 2020, a software engineer turned into a chaiwala as he wasn’t satisfied with his earlier job. Then the next year, a 26-year-old master’s graduate opened a chai tapri in Kolkata. Last year also, an Economics graduate in Patna became chaiwali after not getting a job in two years.
With several tea stalls installed in the country, and everyone doing good business, it’s evident that India runs on chai. And to add to this number here’s another girl who allegedly quit her job at the British Council Library to pursue her vision of setting up a chai franchise just like the popular, Chaayos.
Telling her tale, retired Brigadier Sanjay Khanna wrote on a LinkedIn post that while strolling through Delhi Cantt’s Gopinath Bazar, looking for a tea stall, he stumbled upon the tapri of this “smart English-speaking woman operating this small chai stall on wheels, popularly called Raydee.”
Curious to see her there, Brigadier Khanna enquired why she was doing the odd job.
“She mentioned that she has a vision and dream to make it as big as Chaiyos, the famous tea set up which is located all over.” (sic)
The woman named Sharmistha Ghosh went on to claim that she has a post-graduate degree in English literature and has worked in British Council Library too until she quit to pursue her dream.
“A friend of hers, Bhavna Rao working with Lufthansa is also a joint partner in operating this small Chai stall. Further, as of now, she’s providing extra wages to her house help as she has employed her at the chai stall. They come together in the evening and operate from the small temporary kind of structure and go back.”
Brig. Khanna wrote this post to express that there is nothing called a low/small job and such people must be highlighted to motivate others.
“One must have the passion & integrity to work towards their dream to make it come true. I have come across many highly qualified youth who are in despair and are on the lookout for an appropriate job commensurate with professional stature. This message goes out to them.”
He concluded his post by writing, “I strongly feel that one must not keep thinking of high qualifications and a high-end job deserved but think of small ways and means to achieve & flourish in the longer run.”
To read his full LinkedIn post, click here.
People lauded Brig. Khanna for sharing the post and inspiring others to follow their dreams no matter how big or small they are.
After the post went viral, Bhavna Rao (Sharmistha’s partner in this initiative) clarified that both of them are in the food business and they were making tea just for themselves. But since it’s cold in Delhi right now, the passerby asked them to serve them hot tea for money and they couldn’t deny it.
“First of all, thank you for your kind words. Second, I’d just like to correct a slight interpretation of what we are doing. Brigadier Khanna, who so beautifully put forth our tale, made a slight error. We are primarily into food.The.tea.was.made just for ourselves from day 1 since it had been cold winter evenings but passersby asked if we would serve them tea and it was no hardship doing so for them. The brigadier was also offered the tea and that is why the talk turned to chai and stuff.”
However, they also serve other food items and are also passionate about plants.
“In the Harbaksh Stadium, for the Army Diwali fair, we had a stall for all of this and the rest evolved from there. So, we hope that more people take it as something positive we are doing with our time and not sitting at home and twiddling our thumbs. Thank you once again for being so supportive.”
Kudos to these girls for hustling so hard to make it big by their selves.