Delhiwale: Reopened for business

Rajesh Kumar, a chai shop owner, returns to his daily occupation

This afternoon the kiosk is booming, as always, with the “deck-level” sound of singer Prahlad Badhana’s devotionals in praise of “Dev Narayan.” A few folks are standing by the counter, waiting for adrak chai (ginger tea). The glass jars are filled with mithais, laddus and biscuits. While swirls of dust caused by the passing cars on the kachchi sadak (unmetalled road) are settling down on this chai shack, here in Gurugram’s Sector 35.

In his 30s, Mr Kumar is a rare fellow showing no anxiety about our pandemic-ridden lives. (Mayank Austen Soofi)

It seems like any afternoon of the pre-pandemic era. “But I’m in mask,” points out tea man Rajesh Kumar. So are the customers.

“Nahin nahin, even our noses are properly covered,” he clarifies, laughing, on this WhatsApp video chat, as he details the ambiance of the place.

In his 30s, Mr Kumar is a rare fellow showing no anxiety about our pandemic-ridden lives.

“I’m not stressed,” he insists, but with no cockiness in his voice, as if respectful of the feeling of helplessness lurking in the air.

Not that he hasn’t suffered due to the coronavirus pandemic. Mr Kumar’s stall was shut down for a month as the Delhi region reeled under the crushing second wave. His earnings stopped. He returned to his village in Rajasthan.

“I accepted the situation,” he says, noting, “I would have felt differently if the government had closed only my stall.”

Mr Kumar came back a week ago (all his family remain Covid-free) and reopened the stall three days back—the lockdown in the Millennium City has been relaxed. Since the stall is surrounded by factories and warehouses, “my customers consist of labourers, taxi drivers and courier wale”. These are people who can’t work from home, and come to him for chai breaks between their work shifts.

It was like a jungle here when he set up the stall a decade ago, he informs. The office block at the back of his stall used to be a dense cluster of trees. Mr Kumar’s recollections of earlier times suggest that the surrounding region has dramatically transformed. Probably the only thing that seems to have stayed unchanged is his tea shop, along with its wooden shelves and glass jars and chipped kettle (which he does replace with new ones regularly).

One day, when the pandemic recedes, you ought to drop by Mr Kumar to enjoy his company, his earthy chai, and his stall (this reporter has experienced the place in the pre-pandemic era).

The stall would serve daily from 5.30am to 10pm, but now the opening hours are from 9am to 3pm. After which Mr Kumar walks to his room in nearby Narsinghpur village.