BENGALURU: Abdul Rehman (26) brews about 400 cups of tea in his room in Ulsoor to sell to office-goers, clothes shopkeepers, vegetable vendors and auto drivers.
Even after tea stalls and coffee shops pull down their shutters for the day, he continues to push his cycle around the city’s busiest roads, handing out chai or lemon tea for Rs 5 a cup to waiting customers.
City Express catches a few minutes with him at the MG Road-Brigade Road corner as the clock strikes 12 before a couple of beat policemen send him on his way.
Snatches of the conversation:
How long have you been selling tea?
A friend, who has passed away now, gave me the idea eight years ago. Before that, I used to work in a restaurant, making parathas. I was in Class 5 when I came to Bengaluru from my hometown, Mangaluru.
Is selling tea a better livelihood than working in a restaurant?
This way, I’m my own boss. At the restaurant, they work you from 10 am to 12 am for Rs 500 a day. Even now, after cancelling out expenses, I make about Rs 500 or Rs 600.
What’s your day like?
I wake up at 6 am, perform namaz, make tea and head to the Ulsoor market. I sell tea there to vendors and shopkeepers till 10. Then I come back home, make another batch and head to offices on MG Road till 1 pm. I set out there again at 4. At 6 pm, I go back home for another refill, and head to Ulsoor. At around 10, I come to MG Road, where auto drivers are waiting for their tea. I go on till 1 am. Now that it’s Ramzan, my day starts at 3.30 am, when I go to a restaurant close to my room for food.
Do you always know how much tea to make? Does the weather affect sales?
I know that, on an average, I sell 400 cups a day. When it’s cold outside, some drink up to 10 cups. In the summer, those who buy five cups often stop at two. When I feel like it, or if not enough people are buying tea, I have a cup or two myself, though I favour lemon tea over chai. (‘When we see that, we think ‘paapa, he’s drinking his own tea,’ and get another cup,’ chips in an auto drivers at the junction.)
I also sell coffee, bournvita and Horlicks during the day. Sometimes, a customer requests for ‘special’ tea in advance. On such days, I use half a litre of water for one litre chai instead of three-quarters as I normally do.
Do the police bother you?
No, not really so long as I keep out of their sight (chuckles). And I don’t stop at one spot for long.
Do you get to take off from work?
I only work in the evenings on Sundays, and go back home to Mangaluru once a month. I also send some money home every month.