Cha Times!

Chai becomes very important after a really hard day at work. Even if the day is not hard enough tea is still needed to kill a long day. Chai wala is an essential property outside office edifices. In my office vicinity there are 2 chai walas who sit at a distance of 100 cms. They are pally and all but see how they create competition in the ecosystem.

One guy is huge with a handlebar moustache and wears a lungi (a usually checker drape worn below the waist level by men, particularly in southern India). The other guy is smaller always greeting his customers with a smile on his face. That’s how he steals my loyalty to his tea stall.

Now, I was just noticing their pull strategy. For convenience sake let’s call the Lungi guy Tea Stall #1, the Happy guy Tea Stall #2 and these numbers don’t denote rankings at all.

Now coming to their product offerings; let’s analyse them one by one:

Stall #1

Not that the products are any different in a tea stall but taste Oh yes! His tea is quite milky and lacks cardamom flavor. I don’t like cardamom so it works for me but milk oh no, I can’t bear the sight of a thick white looking milky tea- that is because it takes away all the authentic taste which a closer-to –black-tea has.

Stall #2 has a slightly better tea because it is cutting, highly aromatic, darker, and less milk. I would anyday prefer to go to him first. There is a time when he chooses to take a break and deny us the luxury of sipping a soothing cutting chai; then we are left with only the Lungi guy. He very happily makes the tea of my preference because in his mind he wants to shift my customer loyalty towards him instead. And, he makes every effort to do so.

For instance – one day in stall #2’s absence he went out of his way to make a sugar free tea. He had no milk and he sent a guy to get milk before he closes the stall for the day. I felt privileged. While my tea was made to perfection; I wanted to skip because he was taking too long. Since, he was sweet enough I couldn’t be a ruder.

While I was sipping the cutting chai peacefully he started selling his tea making skills. He bitched about the Happy Guy Tea Stall #2 and tried to convince me how his tea tastes authentic.

Arey madam jee aap roz udhar peete ho, hamari chai peekar dekho aapko maza ajayega aur aap mere paas hi ayoge hamesha. (you drink tea at the other stall every day, have it at my stall and you would always want to come back for the tasty chai).

I was like Hmm. May be. But next day when I saw the Happy Guy Stall #2 perched on this wooden flat stool I was ecstatic. I like an opportunist went to him simply ignoring the other guy. Maybe, he doesn't say anything but his customer service is what I get attracted to or maybe, his product which is my requirement.

Or maybe it is just OPIUM.