The World In A Teacup

This Kochi-based, globetrotting tea vendor has a powerful message for one and all—‘It’s possible’, writes K P Pushparaj

- K P Pushparaj

K R VIJAYAN AND WIFE MOHANA can barely contain their excitement ahead of their 44th wedding anniversary. The couple has gifted themselves a trip to China and, although still four months away, they can’t stop dreaming of their exotic, week-long tour. It’s an anniversary plan not unlike many others, yet this one is extra special because this globetrotting couple runs a tea stall for a living. If that’s hard to believe, there’s more. Vijayan, 68, and Mohana, 63, have visited over 50 foreign destinations in Asia, Europe and the US. And having travelled to three continents, they have their sights firmly set on Antarctica.

“I started out as a mobile tea vendor on a bicycle in and around North Cochin. Later, I started a thattukada [street-side eating joint] before I opened this tea shop in 1995. I serve 300 to 400 cups of tea a day, at ` 5 per cup, and a few simple snacks,” says Vijayan, owner of Sree Balaji Coffee House in Kathrikadavu, Cochin.

The bearded tea vendor—or intrepid globetrotter—depending on how you look at him, had travel written in his destiny. He credits his father, a tea vendor in Chertala in Alappuzha district, for his wanderlust. “I started visiting different places when I was eight or nine years old. My father would hire a bicycle and take me to new places in and around Alappuzha just to show me around. That experience made a lasting impact on me,” he recalls.