Degree tea: MBAs and BTechs brew chai for a living

Instead of settling for poorly paid jobs, some techies and post-grads have turned chaiwalas

- Sonam Joshi

In Kollam, Anandu Ajay and Mohammed Shafi, both 25, found themselves out of jobs after the Covid lockdown. “After studying electrical engineering, we didn’t get any jobs in the field, only in sales,” Anandu says. “Our families were pushing us to look for jobs abroad but I wanted to start a business here in Kerala,” he says. The two, along with Shafi’s brother, borrowed money from friends and family to rent a pushcart which they painted, redesigned and decorated with lights to set up their tea stall. Named BTech Chai, it offers 70 varieties priced between Rs 5 and Rs 60, including unusual combinations with tender coconut and Oreo cookies, a blue tea made with butterfly pea flower and a special ‘ginja’ tea made with a blend of nine spices and herbs.

India’s first startup to wake up and smell the money in desi chai was Chai Point started in 2010 by Harvard grad Amuleek Singh Bijral. Now, chai chains dot the country. This, and a ‘chaiwala’ PM who had his own meteoric rise, have lured many an engineer and MBA to the business. What’s more, they’re not shy of flaunting their degrees on their signboards.