Hope can be found in the unlikeliest of places, and for 19-year-old Hazra, this came to be true in the form of her tea shop.
Originally hailing from Murshidabad district in West Bengal, Hazra lives with her husband in Bhopura Ghaziabad with her 8-month-old daughter. Hazra’s family had moved to Delhi for better livelihood opportunities but ended up working as a waste segregator for an aggregator at Delhi 99, Ghaziabad.
Being the second eldest in a family of seven siblings, Hazra started to work as a waste segregator at 16 so that she was able to contribute to her family’s survival.
Nevertheless, even while working in waste, Hazra was determined to access basic education, and since 2016 she has been attending Chintan’s Youth Classes in association with EMpower at Delhi 99.
The Numeracy, Literacy and Life Skill classes taught at the Youth Classes helped her immensely to achieve confidence in dealing and communicating with the public, adapting, comprehending the situation and identifying opportunities.
Starting Her Own Tea Shop
Hazra decided to leave waste picking behind and start her own venture, armed with the skills and knowledge that she learnt in the class.
At 18 years of age, Hazra married Rejwan Ansari, who currently works as a waste picker at Durga Puri and Jyoti Nagar, Delhi.
From Delhi 99, she went to Mangal Bazaar, where she analysed the market potential of setting up a tea shop. Hazra observed that there weren’t many tea shops catering to the demands of autorickshaw drivers, local labourers and residents.
She immediately grabbed this lucrative opportunity. For the last 3 years, she has been trying to save each penny in the hope of opening her own business venture and was able to save ₹10,000 by working as a waste segregator.
She knew she would require a lot of capital to start her business, so she invested around ₹22,000 that she had received as a gift during her marriage and other functions and ₹8000 more by selling old materials in her house like tin and wooden items.
Investing a total of ₹40,000, she developed a kiosk in the empty plot and purchased all the essential ingredients required to run the shop.
Hazra purchased tea leaves, milk, biscuits, buns, etc., from a nearby wholesale market for her tea shop. She ensured the quality of the tea being served at her shop was superior to that of her competitors.
Using entrepreneurial skills she learnt in the youth centre, Hazra kept a competitive and affordable sale price of ₹5 per cup, thereby leaving her with a modest profit to expand her business and look after her mother and her household expenses.
A good tea shop can only be run if the owner has an enterprising personality, and Hazra fits the bill perfectly. Honesty and politeness have been Hazra’s mantra for communicating with her customers. To build her goodwill and retain her customer’s loyalty base, Hazra always offers freshly brewed tea to her customers.
Today Hazra stands tall and independent. She is very happy seeing her business grow and is able to earn around ₹350 per day. Hazra wants to continue supporting her family. She wants her siblings to study hard and stand on their own feet and she is working diligently to realise her dreams.
Hazra knows that she has a long way to go, but she is confident that she is on the right track.
Coming from a marginalised background, Hazra’s efforts are very significant and hopefully, they will set an inspiring example for other girls in her family and the community.
About the author: Suman Singh has been working with Chintan’s education initiative for children from the waste picking community in the capacity of Field Officer for the last 11 years.