A young entrepreneur has modelled his cafe in Hyderabad after the city's iconic Charminar.
Aptly named as the 'Chaiminar'- the cafe built in the style of the landmark monument is an ode to all tea lovers. It serves several varieties of the brew- including the most sought-after 'Ginger shot.'
The proud owner of the cafe, Vijay Raghavendra, a self-proclaimed history buff moved to Hyderabad for his degree studies.
"I have always liked to read history from childhood. I used to live near Central Library during my graduation days and used to visit the library more than college. I spent a lot of time there reading history books. During that time, I saw the Charminar from far away and took an instant liking to it,'' says Vijay.
Vijay, however, has never visited the Charminar as some of his friends had warned that from close quarters it might not seem as attractive.
"A group of my friends planned to visit Charminar. But one of them said that it does not look as attractive from close quarters as it seemed from a distance. I have never gone near Charminar since that day, as I fear it would ruin my expectations.''
Soon Vijay got into business and it took seven months for him to translate his dream into reality.
"The construction of the cafe took nearly 7 months. I worked on different recipes for almost two months during that time. The contractor tasked with constructing the cafe abandoned the project halfway and I did not have much money left to complete it. But this was my dream project and I decided to construct the rest by myself. I brought bamboo and other materials and set up everything in it including the furniture by myself."
He said that he now gets around 400-500 customers who visit the shop every evening.
"We serve milk-based tea like Ginger tea, Elaichi tea and others. We also have flower brewed tea like hibiscus, rose petals, and chamomile. Each flower has some medicinal value. Chai with Health is our concept. 'Ginger shot' is one of the most sought-after teas here," says Vijay.
Sohail Khan, who visits the cafe frequently says, "I have seen such a cafe for the first time. The place is lovely. It's a nice place to chill out with friends. I come regularly." Another customer Chandu says, "I am regular here. The tea tastes delicious. The ambience is good and the infrastructure is well-built. This is a new concept here. A lot of young people come here. I like the lemon and normal tea here."
About his future plans, Vijay said, "Chaiminar is a landmark. I want to build a brand of it. Coffee has a brand, but the taste of tea differs from place to place. I want to create a brand of tea. I got good response within four months of starting the cafe. I have the trademarks and design patents for this cafe. I want to spread Chaiminar across India.'' Vijay hopes that people from different parts of India could feel the vibes of Charminar while sipping tea at the Chaiminar!
( With inputs from ANI )
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