The dear old 'chayer dokan' or tea shop with its unassuming facade still holds a charm for the city-slickers and their poor brethren alike.
KOLKATA: Kolkata's profile has undergone a metamorphosis with swank coffee shops and shopping malls coming up everywhere, but the dear old 'chayer dokan' or tea shop with its unassuming facade still holds a charm for the city-slickers and their poor brethren alike.
And who can think of a tea shop without 'bhar' or earthen pot?
Not certainly the city's residents. They will just say an emphatic 'no' to a plastic cup or even a cup made of China clay, which has allowed the potters to carry on with their business at Pilkhana situated on the western banks of Ganga.
Approximately over 1.5 lakh 'bhars' are churned out daily from 90 units at Kapur Gulli of Pilkhana where a sizable migrant population from north India is involved in the business.
"The potters, called 'karigar' (artisans) in local parlance, are originally from Uttar Pradesh and have been traditionally involved in this trade for generations," Binod Prajapati, one of the veterans in the area, said.
Working for 15-16 hours till late night, they prepare 'bhars' of 35 gm, 50 gm for tea stalls and 75, 100, 250, 500 gm for sweet shops to be readied for supply next morning to different locations.
Though the 'bhars' are a universal favourite, but these days they are finding a tough competition from plastic cups.
"We are faced with an uncertain future with plastic cups slowly outpacing 'bhars' for the past one and two years. But the babus have told us that plastic is banned. Can you tell us the truth?" Prajapati asks.
Another potter Lalta Prapati, who is in the business for 30 years, said that the plastic cups have indeed hampered their business by 20 per cent.
A typical unit, comprising a spinning wheel, mud kiln (known as bhanti locally), a ramshackle shade and maximum four potters, including children, churns out 2,000-2,500 bhars on a daily basis.
However, the intrusion of plastic cups has cut into this production figure.
"The rate of 'bhars' have not increased proportionately with the increase in price hike of essential commodities. We are still selling 35-50 gram 'bhars' at Rs 17-Rs 21 per 100 pieces, 75 grams at Rs 22/100 pieces and 250 grams at Rs 32/100 pieces, our income has drastically gone down as the clients are not ready to pay more," Basanta Prajapati, who has been working in the unit for 60 years, says.
The approximate investment of each unit runs into Rs 3,000-6,000 including the transport cost for raw materials.
However, fighting all odds, the potters are still determined to continue their profession.
And there are takers for their production.
"...We are pretty confident that glitzy coffee shops or malls won't affect the business of 'cha walas' in the long run. Also plastic cups can't be the alternative to bhars," Bablu Kokey, a tea stall owner in central Kolkata, says.
Echoing his voice, a sweet shop owner in Esplanade says their entire stock of bhars are sourced from Kapur Gulli.
So the ubiquitous bhars are there to stay, but will the potter stay as well?
Twenty-year-old Baburam Prajapati says he want to learn driving as nobody respects a bharwala.
"No one treat us as humans. If I get a driving licence, I can run a taxi on rent or drive a car," he signs off as a coy smile flits on his lips.
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