The ' Thalluvandi ' or pushcart has been popular for centuries. A push cart laden with good food used be a mobile paradise those days. Food vendors like Bayilwan Duraiswamy Iyer served quality food from a push cart. The ' Kaiyendhi Bhavans ' of Big Bazaar Street served their stuff from a push cart.
The ' Thalluvandi ' or pushcart has been popular for centuries. A push cart laden with good food used be a mobile paradise those days. Food vendors like Bayilwan Duraiswamy Iyer served quality food from a push cart. The ' Kaiyendhi Bhavans ' of Big Bazaar Street served their stuff from a push cart.
Young Abhinav Surana has now launched his venture ' Tapriwala ' from West Lokamanya Street in R.S.Puram. "Tapriwala means Thalluvandikaran. Therefore I have placed a real push cart inside our outlet. Tea is made and served from this food cart ( Tapri ). I had a passion for cooking since my childhood and used to make tea for my grandfather Late Sampatraj Surana from the age of seven. My internship at Porto in Portugal made me a full cook. I lived as a paying guest along with two others and used to cook my own food everyday. We are Jains from Rajasthan and therefore my fare was pure vegetarian. The landlady Maria used to love my food and she used to insist on having the tea made by me everyday. Food used to be simple - dhal, gravy, rice, tea, shakes, mocktails etc., but the other two paying guests used to simply lap it up. One of them was from Bosnia and other was from Lisbon. A Bulgarian girl replaced the Bosnian later and all of them are my friends. This includes Maria, her husband and her kid. I used to buy the ingredients from the market place in Porto and surprisingly I never got to see an Indian in that city. So when people from different parts of the world loved our food, it gave me an inspiration. Looking back it was a turning point for me," smiled Abhinav while serving a ' cutting ' tea during the conversation.
This Tapriwala cooks, serves, takes orders while also managing the restaurant. Abhinav was born to Girish and Ketan Surana in Mumbai and moved to Coimbatore when he was just nine months old. "I began to walk in Coimbatore," stated the young entrepreneur. Abhinav had done his schooling in Stanes, B.E - Robotics & Automation Engineering in PSG Tech and he has followed it up with a post graduate degree in Industrial Engineering from the famous University of Illinois in Urbana Champagne ( USA ). He had wanted to set up an industry. This took him to distant places like Delhi, Mumbai, Gujarat etc., Somehow it did not happen.
"I used to cook my food in the US almost everyday. My first semester room mate (random) was a Korean and I used to cook for him during the weekends. He used to make pure veg stuff for me and Korean food was new to me. My Gujarati and Rajasthani room mates used to cook pretty well. They had joined me later. On finishing my education, I returned to India. Some how my manufacturing venture did not happen. In the meantime I was looking out to take a franchise of a restaurant from Gujarat (Pure veg Chinese). A few friends came to know of my interest. However the cost of taking up a franchise came in the way for I was knew to the line. I dropped that idea too. Everything came to a halt for month and it was a time when my grandfather was unwell. All of a sudden, my brother law called me up and told me that a place was available in West Lokamanya Street at R.S.Puram. I liked the place and initially I thought that it was too small. However my architect Ashish Ranka was of the opinion that it was enough for my concept. I took the place and thereafter decided on opening a café. My five year research on food had helped me create the menu. I had made a menu for a fine dine and café earlier. The first idea was a fine dine and later it became a café. Then came the name. Tapri was a slang for a push cart. Did some homework and came up with ' Tapriwala '. Well, this is the genesis of my venture, " stated Abhinav while shuttling between customers and also sharing his story. The name Tapriwala sounds very Parsi too.
The bread cheese pakora is the best seller for now and the grilled bun murukku sandwich is the signature dish. Abhinav was sitting randomly on an empty day and this new idea sprung in his mind. He walked into the kitchen rightaway and just made it. The staff and a friend of his liked it and that is how the signature dish came about. Abhinav is into a lot of fusion and his recipes are born out of trial and error. His family, friends and staff are his early critics and now customer feedback plays a major role. The prices are not vey high though. "I wanted a perceived premium and also a value for money. Quality, quantity, service with a smile was important. I had to face a bit of criticism from my inner circle but I persisted. While I added the costs into the price, I had not added the extra hard work put in by my staff and a salary for myself. An entrepreneur never factors a salary. He works on the idea and chooses to innovate profitably. We do not use ajinomoto, or preservatives or artificial colours at all. One cook is from Mumbai. I got him through my uncle's cook in Gujarat. My sister in law in Gujarat was helpful. One of our people has been with our family for 21 years and the rest came in from Coimbatore itself. We are open by 1 PM and are there up to 12AM. Basically our operations are ' Midday to mid night ', chuckled the owner of Tapriwala. Abhinav serves 150 items to his clients.
Tapriwala is also a place for games. One can play Mikado Sticks, Jenga, Sequence, Ludo, Connect Four, Tick Tack Toe etc., in the café while savouring the food and chai ! Tyres are part of the furniture and there are tiny ' Tapris ' in the place of trays. By the way, the café is airconditioned. The the lights on the ceiling are made out of tea kettles. Well, they are real kettles and have been specifically modified for this purpose. Tapriwala - The contemporary tea café wants to be known as a friendly and lovable road side shop. "People want to visit Tapriwala again and again...often too. They go to other places only to come back, "smiled Madhu Sharma, a textile businessman.
Abhinav spoke about his support system and the people who had chipped in their bit. "People who liked my idea asked me to work towards it. These were my cousins from Gujarat and the cousins from Coimbatore. A few of my best friends were already with me. My mom was very supportive. Dad was a bit sceptical but he was extremely supportive. My relative Divya Surana helped me with the fancy catch phrases that you see in the café. She did it from USA. The lovely logo came up because of my cousin sister in law Shraddha. She got her cousin sister in law Neha (Mumbai based designer) to do it for me. I never spoke to Neha. All of this arrived by email," laughed Abhinav. Skill and attitude are found in abundance with this youngster.
The tiny Tapri looks like a Lilliput in front of the tea cups. One is but reminded of the Valakhilyas - the 60,000 thumb sized ascetics who come in the Indian scriptures. They could be considered to be the forerunners of the ' Lilliputs '. Even ancient Sangam literature refers to them.
Abinav stated further, "Tapriwala - The contemporary tea café, is here to serve people good stuff. This entrepreneurial venture is here to provide employment, pay taxes and give business to vendors. The farmer will be a gainer too. I hope to take this venture forward in the near future. My experience has been interesting. I am savouring it."
Abhinav Surana is the new Tapriwala of Coimbatore.