Setho ka Gaon

As the weather gets colder, we seek warmth and comfort in other things such as soft sweaters, warm hands, and everyone’s beloved ‘garam chai’. From Sudama Chai to JP tea stall, outside the gates of every college on the north campus, we will be able to find a tea stall serving hot tea and coffee. These tea stalls are a hangout spot for students and teachers alike. If one walks the footpath near these areas around the time that classes usually wrap up or around lunchtime, we’ll be greeted by the sight of a number of students sitting in rows along the low walls and faculty members gossiping over a cup of tea.

Being a college student myself, tea is also one of my most loved drinks, and just like all college students I too get my comfort tea from the stalls that set up outside the college. College students are always running on a budget, so a Rs. 10 chai from our beloved ‘chai ki tapri’ is the best way to get rid of the exhaustion from the day and relax. And behind these small tea stalls and their hardworking workers, rests the livelihoods of these people and countless stories to be told.

As I walk my regular path out of college and back to my PG, I see the students gossiping by a stall, drinks in hand, and wonder about the stories and the effects of the shifts in seasons and sessions on the economy of these tea stalls.

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CHANGING TIMES AND THE SOCIAL MEDIA EFFECT

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Expansion of the Stall Businesses

One can say that ‘Sudama Chai walked so Little Hut could run.’

Initially this trend of our loved tea stalls started from small stalls selling tea with just a side of biscuits or pakoras near an office or in college areas. Now, one can get a variety of teas such as masala tea, lemon tea, etc. as well as coffee being served along with a wider variety of cakes and biscuits. The tea stalls have paved the way for more stalls in these areas such as Bhel Puri, Dosa, Coffee stalls and Maggi points. This eventual increase in variety led to lanes of stalls being set up near college areas which quickly became loved hangout spots among the people to make memories and have good food. The results were areas with booming businesses supporting people's livelihoods as roadside food gained traction among the youth.

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EFFECTS OF SOCIAL MEDIA

The onset of social media and romanticization of some of the food stalls proved very profitable for these small businesses. More and more people want to visit these ‘famed’ places and try the ‘special’ food that these places serve. This leads to very high expectations from the customers.

Every session in the beginning of a new semester these stalls would see a boom of new students coming from different places wanting to try these hotspots with high expectations. This influx of customers then eventually peters out as they find new spots or don’t really ‘see the hype’. If the place is deemed ‘a scam’ or do not meet the expectations of these enthusiastic youth, they often tend to eventually get less customers and lose prospective customers as word travels online that a certain place is ‘not worth the hype’.

This is why the regular customers are who keep these places alive, people who have been coming to them before they became a ‘social media’ hotspot and are now attached to the nostalgia these places carry. The effect of social media leads to a boom in the business of these well-known stalls in the months that see new students and bring in more revenue. The momentum, however, doesn’t always last throughout the year.

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CHANGING SEASONS

If we consider the students who are the major source of income for these stalls, on an average there are 700-800 students during an ongoing college session. If we assume that even 50% of them come to college on a day, there are 350-400 students. On a particularly cold day, a student would drink an average of atleast 2 cups of tea assuming that atleast 350 of them consume caffeine. This adds up to Rs. 3500 per day of income, assuming that all of them drink tea. If we assume out of 350, 25% drink coffee, the revenue in winter adds up to Rs. 3,935 per day.

As the seasons change the business of the tea stalls would shift too. Summer comes around and Delhi sees unforgiving heat. In such hot weather it is hard to think of drinking anything even mildly warm. Barely anyone is able to stomach a hot cup of tea after being busy from morning to evening as the sun shines above our heads.

This is usually the time that a lot of tea stalls don’t even bother to set up for tea. The 350 that were consuming hot beverages would go down drastically, suppose to 50, as a larger proportion would prefer colder drinks. Now assuming that all of them drink tea, the revenue would fall to Rs. 500, which is an approximate 86% fall and factoring in revenue of coffee, the revenue would be Rs. 560.

This is why we see a lot of stalls expanding beyond the general repertoire of warm tea towards other drinks such as coolers and shakes. This allows the stalls to continue their business even when it is off-season for tea. Nonetheless, the tea stalls still remain the brand by which they’re known and loved. As soon as winter rolls around, the tea once again becomes a hit as everyone seeks the comfort of warm tea in their hands in between classes and over catching up with friends.

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EFFECT OF SEASONS

Tea is often associated with rainy weather and cozy afternoons. But then, what about the revenue in Summer? There are various shifts we can see in the way the tea stalls function as the seasons change and the college session progresses.

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PROGRESSION OF THE COLLEGE SESSION

Another shift we see in these stalls’ businesses is when they see ‘slow’ business as students start going home or exam week rolls around. As fewer students come to classes and classes wrap up one by one causing lesser faculty members to come around too, the people who are regulars do not show up. There are always people who would gladly stop by for a tea and a break, but due to students being their main source of footfall, consisting of approximately more than 75% of orders per day, these businesses do see a significant fall in their revenue as holidays and exam season come around.

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CONCLUSION

Tea stalls or ‘Chai ki Tapri’ have now become a brand more than just stalls as they change and adapt to the changes in their environment. These small businesses are a perfect example of how economics of the smallest element is dynamic and shifts based on various factors. Preferences, market, change in season, technological advancement, everything plays a role in assisting this change however minor it may be.