KOZHIKODE: A cuppa for Rs 1 in Kozhikode town? Incredible as it may sound, 70-year-old P K Kuttan, fondly called Kuttettan by his friends and well-wishers, will place a full glass of ‘strong’ tea at your table for just Rs 1 at his tea-shop near Jubilee Hall. Kuttettan’s ‘business’ does not follow market theories, because he does not see the need for doing so. “I have been running this shop for the past over 35 years. Ever since then I have been charging just Rs 1 for a cup of tea. I have never bothered about making more money. I am not worried about profits,” he says simply.
A tea and a snack will set one back by Rs 6 – Rs 1 for the tea of course, and Rs 5 for the snack. “I used to charge just Rs 1 for both tea and snack earlier. Now, I don’t make snacks anymore; I buy it from another person and hence the increased rate,” he says.Kuttettan has no regrets about the way in which he conducts his business.
“I am not a fool who doesn’t understand or know the tricks of the markets. I sell more than 200 cups of tea and more snacks a day. If I had sold tea and snacks for the market rate, I could have earned four or more times what I have earned. But I have never felt the need for it,” he said, adding he does not want to earn more than what he needs.
Kuttettan says while people complain about what the government does for the common man, he is more concerned about what he can do for the nation. “At the end of the day, I can truly say I have given my part,” he says, proudly adding if he was rich, he would have done much more. Kuttettan has two daughters. His older daughter is doing her final-year graduation and the younger one is in Class X.