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Chai Pe Charcha: Know the Story Behind the Hit ‘Tandoori Chai Point’ of Silchar

It is common knowledge to all that tea is the most widely consumed drink after water and enjoys huge popularity all over the world. Especially in the Indian subcontinent, tea or ‘chai’, as it is more commonly known here, is a pretty common beverage found in almost all households across all classes of people. Much similar to coffee’s ubiquity in American families or workplaces as an indispensable catalyst of any sort of conversation or discussion. The cult term ‘Chai pe Charcha’ is a testament to the unparalleled popularity and indispensability of this hot beverage found in this part of the world.

Over the years of its existence, tea has managed to ooze out different variants of it, each of which has its own fanbase. One such variant is Tandoori chai, which is like the premium version of tea, treated like royalty around the chai lovers’ community. The beverage made by boiling black tea in milk and water with a mixture of aromatic herbs and spices, made its foray into the city of Silchar for the first time with a roadside tea shop named ‘Tandoori Chai Point’, situated in N. S. Avenue right across the Public School Road.

Initially setting up the shop at National Highway road back in 2019, ‘Tandoori Chai Point’ shifted to its current domain at N. S. Avenue just before lockdown last year. “Initially, we used to have 200-250 customers per day when we first set up. Then gradually, the business started growing and soon we started having 400-500 customers per day, which prompted us to open up a branch in Hailakandi road”, says Bappa Malakar and Shuvon Chanda, the two cousins running this newfound hub of tea lovers of this city.

Street food enjoys commanding popularity in Silchar, especially for tea lovers. Talking about the inspiration behind this business model of starting Tandoori chai in this region, Bappa said that it was during one of his visits to Kolkata that he came to know about this variant of tea and the huge demand that it possesses.

“In 2019, when I visited Kolkata due to some work, I came across Tandoori chai and immediately loved it. I also noticed how popular it was among the people there, especially the young generation. It was then that I decided to start this venture in my hometown once I get back.” And just like most other places in India, Tandoori chai too enjoys an overwhelming demand here in Silchar, with many students from colleges and the University (Assam University) being their regular customers.

 

 

It was not as much for the love of brewing as for the scope of a pure business model that inspired Bappa to start this venture here in Silchar. Currently, only two shops are offering Tandoori chai in the entirety of Silchar, including this one. Pioneering the Tandoori tea revolution in Silchar, the ‘Tandoori Chai Point’ quickly turned into a great hit with its lively, vigorous and spicy tang. But just like any other business, whether small or big, got affected by the Covid lockdown last year, Bappa’s Tandoori Chai venture too got badly hit when the entire nation went into a total lockdown. Financial restraint forced Bappa’s previous partner to quit, making him the sole owner of this venture.

Shuvon Chanda, Bappa’s current partner in this business, said “When I heard that Bappa’s partner quit, I immediately offered to fill in the shoes. Then after reopening of the shop post-lockdown, we had to rebuild our customer base from the scratch. We closed the original shop at the National Highway point and shifted our base permanently here now. Then slowly we started building our customer base again having 200-300 each day.” Standing right near the roadside across the Public School road, ‘Tandoori Chai Point’ has been able to generate so much gathering in its vicinity that they’ve already started preparing to shift to a better spot to better accommodate their customers.

 

 

In this context, Bappa says, “When our customers started increasing and the crowd was getting bigger near our shop, one gentleman offered us to rent his under-construction commercial space in a market to us to run our shop, which is right behind our current shop. It will take another couple of months to get completed, after which we’ll shift permanently there to better accommodate our customers with the seating arrangement. This is a good thing for us, as we can possibly expand our business from a better base.”

He also shared with us that they intend to introduce more flavours into their menu once they make their switch to the new space. “We order the special masala that we use from a different state. After shifting, we’ll introduce newer flavours of Tandoori chai and perhaps, coffee and its variants are on the radar too”, said his partner Shuvon.

Call it a novelty factor in this valley or a premeditated ‘business model’, it is almost undeniable that ‘Tandoori Chai Point’ did succeed in bringing this avant-garde tea revolution in the region, which was, for the most part, deprived of this amazing indigenous variant of tea. The youth has already given its verdict by their huge turnout at the shop. So, whenever you happen to travel through that road, and if you happen to catch a slight distinct zing aroma trying to stimulate your taste buds, you better know where the masala is brewing!

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