A sign of prosperi(tea): The dhaba culture taking over Karachi’s streets

Tea cafes spring up in commercial centres, corners of busy roads in ordinary residential neighbourhoods

KARACHI: After years of chaos and terror, a sense of peace has finally started to return to the port city. With this peace comes opportunity - for those willing to think out of the box. One popular venture for Karachi's youth seems to be chai dhabas - of which hundreds have sprung up over the last half decade.

Educated youth no longer count on conventional job markets for a living; many have now started launching their own start-ups and small businesses with unique ideas, including cafes based on various themes. Families and youngsters are seen regularly flocking to these cafes as they offer a good ambiance, clean environment and a large variety of eatables. The new wave has even managed to attract a previously untapped clientelle - women and children.

These dhabas have also played a key role in developing and shaping the city's literary and political culture. Earlier, the citizens of Karachi used to depend on Irani and Marwari tea hotels. Then pushtoons from Quetta added to the city's tea culture with a large number of establishments cropping up in various parts of the city. Many of these are still operative, with their strong, steam-emitting refreshing cups of tea incredibly popular in the metropolis for many years. However, the tea tradition is now seeing a new era as the newer establishments start taking particular care of hygiene and ambiance as well as service and food quality. The staff at these modern tea cafes is generally educated and ensures great care of the environment as well as customer service. Servings of tea are made in large-sized cups while parathas and snacks are served on handmade plates adorned with intricate designs.

Modern cafes hire educated waiters trained to serve the customers professionally. Visitors do not go through the hassle of long queues as even the managers and owners of the cafes are sometimes seen on foot serving the customers and taking feedback about their quality and service. Most modern tea cafes are being set up in commercial centres, markets and at corners of busy roads. Due to the paucity of budget, most youngsters prefer low-rent spaces and shops alongside service roads. Hence, areas with sparse population and low pedestrian movement are increasingly preferred for such cafes.

In addition to the posh areas of the city, educated young entrepreneurs have also set up modern style cafes in many ordinary residential neighbourhoods. Unlike the old dhabas, modern tea cafes are set up in large commercial spaces or vacant spaces of the service road providing space for chairs, tables and carpets allowing visitors to socialize in outdoor settings.

Mushtaq Ansari, who has opened his roadside cafe on the road leading from Liaquatabad to Ghareebabad just two weeks ago, said that he was from an accounting and finance background but he preferred to own business over having to do a job and so he opened a cafe in partnership with his friends. The other cafe owners are also students of ICMA final year. The cafe, known as Cafe Shauqeen, is just one of the many tea cafes widespread in the city. Cafe owners study during the day or go to work and run the cafe from evening to night. Ansari has ludo and draft boards printed on the tables to attract the customers along with comfortable chairs and carpeting.

Ansari said that people working at the cafe, from waiters to the chef, are educated. The cafe has reserved 40% of its space for families that fill up the place on weekends. The cafe is promoted on social media, with many customers uploading their pictures on the accounts, attracting other customers. Ansari said that these cafes promote a positive outlook of Karachi.

Furthermore, if the cafe is a success, it also raises property prices and shop rents of that area. Ansari said that his cafe is open till 3am on weekdays and till 4am on weekends. According to the young entrepreneur, he and his partners invested an amount of Rs10,000,000 to open the cafe, most of which was spent on furniture, tableware and other equipment. He added that there is a change in the mindset of the youngsters ever since peace had been restored in the city and they were now going towards owning businesses.

On the menu

These newly styled tea cafes serve teas, kahwas, and green teas of various varieties of which ginger, elaichi and kashmiri teas are the most in demand. Similarly, over dozen types of parathas are prepared and served at these cafes which include lachchay walay parathay, anda paratha [egg paratha], meetha paratha [sweet paratha], aloo bharay parathay [potato-filled paratha], achar aloo parathay, kabab parathay, aloo chicken parathay [potato and chicken paratha], paneer parathay, daal bhara paratha, chicken paratha, chicken achari paratha, chicken paneer paratha and pizza paratha. Besides tea and parathas, a host of other items are also served such as new varieties of chatnis and raitas to add to the taste of parathas. Some of the newer cafes also serve fast food including burgers, sandwiches, french fries etc.

Enhancing the experience

The modern dhabas or cafes also give various services to enhance the experience of the customers. Despite being small business setups, free wifi is provided along with television sets that air live games or news channels. A rush of game enthusiasts is witnessed during international tournaments or Pakistan Super League, contributing to the increased incomes of the cafes. Effective security measures are also undertaken at the new dhabas. Automated cameras, in addition to security guards, are installed which also decreases the threat of street crimes while the customers peacefully enjoy their cups of tea.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, September 17^th, 2018.