The Great Indian 'Tapri'
To many foreigners who travel to India for official work, the road side tea stall (or simply ‘tapri’ )which sometimes doubles up as an eatery is an enduring mystery. A common question they often ask is, “Why on earth do associates need to go there at all? Don’t they get refreshments in office?”
I must admit that early in my career I used to think on similar lines but with a difference, perceiving the ‘tapri’ to be an unhygienic place where people indulged in ‘GTP’ – 'General Time Pass', a habit largely carried over from college days. I was wrong.
My first view of a ‘tapri’ was in Mumbai back in 1995. Looking down from the 12th floor of the Nariman Point office where I worked as a trainee auditor, I would get a bird’s eye view of a ‘dosa’ ( an Indian crepe) vendor. People would line up and eat their fill. I would wonder how safe the accompanying ‘chutney’( a kind of vegetable paste prepared using curd and spices) was. I never tried it.
A year later, I joined a bank in Pune. It was still a manual outfit at the time and we would calculate interest in the old fashioned manner ,that is to say there were no computers, just rudimentary calculators. April 1 and October 1 were closed for bank customers and we would be working behind downed shutters. Tea would arrive in ‘katoris’ (upturned metal vessels) and sure enough I would enquire , “ Where does it come from? Is it safe?” .Winter mornings in Pune used to be quite nippy and by the time November 1996 set in, I had started drinking the tea, telling myself that it was after all boiled, hence safe.
In the years that followed, I started spending time at the ‘tapri’ during breaks and occasionally after office hours but never to indulge in small talk – it was the tea and ‘samosa’( a fried Indian preparation with a savoury filling such as potatoes , onions and green peas) that took me there. I still didn’t think much of it. The bank grew and became fully automated over a decade but paradoxically the importance of the ‘tapri’ did not diminish. People still went there.
It was when I moved on in life to an entirely different organization that the all pervasive influence of the ‘tapri’ became apparent. This time I was in an MNC that offered best in class facilities – 5 star facilities if I may use that term and yet people still went to the ‘tapri’ opposite the office building. I found it perplexing and never visited it during my first 3 years there. Most people thought I was obsessed with hygiene, others thought I was elitist. In truth I simply liked the office cafeteria more and preferred finishing all my work on time so that I could catch my 6:30 PM bus. Some people found it amusing – my commitment not to miss that evening bus. I had a different take on it. If you work hard from 9 AM to 6 PM, why should you not go home by that 6:30 PM bus? Its good for you and for the organization.
Things changed when I was given a team to manage in addition to being an individual contributor. They were 3 of them, my very first team and we had moved to a new office as well. These 3 associates would have their breakfast at the ‘tapri’ – ‘poha’( stir fried flattened rice), tea …the works. One morning, the 'tapri' owner (a lady) noticed that I was observing the team eat breakfast and offered me tea with ‘pakodas’(onions dipped in chick pea batter , then fried) . When I declined she smiled and said , “ Okay…as you wish.”
A few days later, this time at about 3 PM she said to me in Hindi , “ Aray Babu, ek baar khaa kay to dekho….chai to peekay dekho.” which loosely translates as “ Hello there , may I suggest you savor our food at least once ….the tea at any rate.” My team urged me to try it and I gave in that afternoon saying ,"All right….pour me a small glass….a good clean glass please….only half a glass, mind you….and one ‘pakoda’..no more…”. That was my debut at the ‘tapri’ and I believe my team had a lot to do with it.
After that, I started visiting the ‘tapri’ more often but by myself,seldom if ever with a team.Going there with a team meant that I would have to observe team protocol and wait till everyone finished. I would go there, drink some tea and quickly return to my desk, all in a few minutes.Sometimes, I would get to observe what was going on. It made fascinating viewing.
I observed that the ‘tapri’ was a place where informal appraisals were held, objectives discussed for the new year, issues debated and new product as well as programming concepts visualized , all over a small cup of tea famously termed ‘cutting’ ( half a cup of tea, hence ‘cutting’ ) and at times ,an accompanying cigarette. I observed 5 unique ‘smoking styles’, each different from the other and each indicating a definite mental mood...and as if all this wasn’t enough, associates found bandwidth to interact with a dog that playfully requested for sweet buns that were available with the tea. I found very little of gossip – it appeared to be a creative hub, a place where people basically relaxed and worked in an informal setting for a few minutes before returning to their respective desks.
Moreover, there was the element of humor and the 'tapri' provided plenty of opportunities to share jokes and anecdotes. As the years rolled by, humor came to be shared on mobile phones but the sense of personal connect remained. "Hello there, any new jokes?" was a question that was often posed on the 'tapri'. Work would get merged with life's lighter moments seamlessly even as cars and two wheelers sped past associates as they crossed the road on their way back to the office.
The point appeared to be lost on most visitors who thought that the ‘tapri’ was a nuisance that needed to be curbed and done away with. I gradually came to develop a different view - as long as it enhanced productivity and wasn't misused, it was fine.When I travelled overseas, I observed that people relaxed in pubs at the end of the day's work. It struck me that the great Indian 'tapri' was performing a somewhat similar function.With smoking banned within office premises, the 'tapri' became a 'must have' 'get away spot' for those who needed to 'freshen up' with the proverbial puff.
The other aspect of the ‘tapri’ that was apparent was that in many cases it was basically illegal and that the owner of the stall was forever maintaining vigil knowing that the Municipal Corporation truck would carry it off , with him in tow. Amidst that blatant illegality was visible the entrepreneurial spirit of these vendors who would apply roadside managerial ‘jugaad’ ( Indian for innovation) to survive and prosper.
Starting as tea stalls, most vendors progressed to offer 5 different typically Indian breakfast and snack items – ‘poha’,‘samosas’and some South Indian items such as 'idli’, ‘upeet’ and ‘uttappa’…you name it and they had it, their respective ‘tapri’'s surrounded mostly by youngsters who appeared to have no time to cook their own meals.One 'tapri' even offered a unique variation of 'Maggi' noodles at Rs25/- a plate, aptly named 'Special Maggi' and as if to recognize it's excellence and revenue potential, the office cafeteria followed suit a few months later ,rolling out its own version of 'Special Maggi'!
The 'tapri' also offered lessons in coping with competition. With the passage of time,the roadside witnessed the arrival of the 'Davangere Dosa' ( a very niche Indian crepe originating in Davengere in Karnataka state), 'Kulfi' ( frozen Indian dessert in various flavors) and guavas that were sold with an assortment of spices.All of them appeared to prosper in unison, collaborating peacefully under warm blue skies.Anyone would think there was a perennial food festival in progress but those are the flavors of India.
When I decided that I would try and dedicate at least 2 years of my life to doing something on my own, I would remember these ‘tapri’'s and the entrepreneurial spirit they represented . They were not glamorous but they offered learning – you can if you think you can and you can do wonders with what little you have as long as you play to your strength and remain 200% honest with yourself.
The great Indian ‘tapri’ is in fact a symbol of sturdy economic independence that seems to proclaim," Formal education alone will not enable you to succeed in life. You need hard work, willingness to keep things simple and 'rough it out', innovation, a big heart and lots of common sense.”
During these last 2 years of my life, my work has taken me to different organizations.Some of these are in IT,others are in non-IT.Some are start-ups, others are established players. I observed the 'tapri' to be everywhere and everyone appeared to gravitate towards it,regardless of age,background and designation.
That then is the great Indian 'tapri' - the ultimate leveler if ever there was one.
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