Khunta: Now, most parts of forested Khunta in Mayurbhanj district are in the grip of cold wave. As soon as day breaks, people wait for Debraj Mandal’s lemon tea at Radhangua. Mandal’s lemon tea has been a hot favourite of people in the village.
The door delivery of the tea has made his business flourish. Holding a burning stove and a tea kettle on it, Mandal moves on from house to house in Khunta Bazaar area. Use-and-throw cups, lemon tea and water bottles keep his business running.
He squeezes two drops of lemon into hot tea and hands over the cups to his regular customers. What makes Mandal’s tea special is a kind of spice he adds to it. He sells a cup of tea for only Rs 3. “His tea is cheap and lemon tea is good for health. We wait for Mandal in the morning to sip his tea,” Dambaru Sahu, a local resident, said.
The 23-year-old Debraj Mandal is a resident of JN Pur in Murshidabad district of West Bengal. His family comprised two brothers, two sisters and his parents. His two sisters have been married off. His father Biren Mandal is a vegetable vendor. His meagre earning runs short of meeting family expenses.
Given the family condition, Mandal had to drop his studies in Class IX and start tea business to supplement the family income.
He went to Malkangiri and started his tea business. Later, he came to Khunta and chose it as his place of business. It has been four years since he came to Khunta.
“I earn anything between Rs 300 and Rs 400 daily from the tea business. I send some money to my house every month. Lemon tea business clicks only in the winter. In other seasons I do garment business,” Mandal said.
He carries bundles of readymade garments on his bicycle and moves from village to village selling them. Mandal said he is planning to open a shop in the bazaar.
PNN