Tea shops are an integral part of India, and you can find small tea shops in every nook and corner of the country; so in Kerala, too. A – tea costs around Rs 5 to 10 in such tea shops.
However, a small tea shop in Kozhikode town in Kerala offers you black tea for one rupee. Yeah you read it correct; a cup of tea for one rupee.
Incredibly, 73-year-old PK Kuttan, fondly called Kuttettan by friends and well-wishers, would place a glass of ‘strong’ black tea for just one rupee at your desk at the tea shop near Jubilee Hall in the town.
When Kuttan had started the shop in 1983, he sold milk tea for Rs. 1. However, the increased demand for black tea and rising milk prices forced him to stop selling milk tea.
Kuttettan does not see the shop as a way to earn huge profit. “I have been running this shop for the last 35 years. Since then, I have been taking only one rupee for a cup of tea. I never thought of making much money. I am not bothered about profit,” he said.
A cup of tea and snack would cost you 6 rupees, 1 rupee for the tea and 5 rupees for the snack. “Earlier, I used to charge only one rupee for tea and breakfast. I no longer have breakfast; I buy it from someone else, so the rate goes up,” Kuttan said.
When people complain about what the government is doing for the common man, he is more concerned about what people can do for the country, and Kuttettan is quite happy that he pays his share for the common man at the end of the day.
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Friends, relatives and his wife forced him to raise the price of tea, but he refused. But this low price may be one reason that helped him keep a rented one-room shop for these long years.
When he opened the shop in the 1980s, there were people to help him. Now it has become a one-man show. But even today, he starts making tea at 8.30 am. People come to the tea shop even when it is time to close the shop at 12 noon.
Kuttettan serves up to 150 cups of tea every day.
So, our readers, please don’t forget to visit Kuttettan when you are in Kozhikode, Kerala.
