Tag: thela

What is common between a panipuri stall and an electronic soap dispenser? No one would ever ask you such a question! In fact, many would tell you with disdain that it is a stupid question, duh! After all, what could be common between an electronic soap dispenser and pani puri? Perhaps an entrepreneur?

What is spicy, tangy, sweet and sour at the same time? What is lip smacking, thoroughly affordable and totally delectable guaranteed to make your mouth water and taste bud rejoice? What was it that Japanese Prime Minister tried popping into his mouth with such gusto in the presence of our own Prime Minister?  Golgappa ofcourse! Also known as pani puri, batasha, puchka, gupchup, this Indian masala concoction with a tangy chutney and yummy masala has achieved world wide fame. In most cities in India, walk out in the evening and you are bound to spot men, women and girls and boys queueing up at the golgappa thela for their daily kick of the savoury water balls.

But many people are also turned off by the way the golgappa is prepared. The vendor usually punctures the puri or the golgappa with his thumb and dips it into the savoury or sweet water and serves it to his customer. One cannot help but wonder how clean is this entire process because the vendor keeps dipping his hand into the savoury water and hardly gets the time to wash his hands again and again.

Voresh Seervi and Uttam Seervi also didn’t like this idea of eating such a golgappa. Uttam says, “We loved panipuri and dahi puri but we could not stand the sight of the golgappa wala bhaiya dipping his hand repeatedly into the water and serving us the same water.”  These two twenty-year-old lads from Pali weren’t just here to criticise the entire golgappa system. They were here to change it.

Uttam says, “ We are cousins. Our brothers work in jewellery shops in Chennai while our parents are farmers. We both finished our graduation in science and arts last year. After our graduation, we got into network marketing . We used to attend a lot of meetings and seminars of network marketing in various hotels. We used to see these soap dispensers in this hotel which would be activated by sensors. The person would just place their hands under the dispenser and the soap would come on to their hands. It was then that a germ of an idea started forming in our mind.”

Voresh adds, “We kept thinking about this idea of a machine that could dispense this water without anyone touching the water and yet enjoying panupuri. We then got in touch with some people in Chennai who could make these kinds of machines. We wanted to ensure hygiene in this entire experience. Finally, we could create machines with inbuilt sensors that could dispense the water when a dona or katori was placed beneath the tap just like a soap dispenser.

Armed with their innovative idea, these two youngsters set up a thela near the chitrakoot market. They offered five types of water (sweet, sour, hing, jeera, mirchi) along with the puris. The customers could simply place their dona under the dispenser of their choice and could have their favourite water!

 But it wasn’t as easy as that! Voresh recalls their first day, “It was in July 2022. I was setting up the stall. I saw a Punjabi lady of about 70+ years old who was wearing a mask. She asked me if it was our opening day. We had no ceremony of any kind but she understood. She said that she wanted to get dahi puri packed for her husband. I was literally shivering in my boots since here we were, first timers and the first order we get was a takeaway. This was the first time we would pack an order.  When I was making the dahi puri, midway, just like it happens in a tough exam,  I forgot the recipe. I then  opened my diary to look up the recipe and somehow made it and packed it. She took it and went off. We were hoping and praying that she and her husband like it. The next day, we saw her walking towards our stall and we were scared that she might say something. She came and she said that the dahi puri was amazing and her husband loved it. She ordered another take away and gave us a lot of blessings. That really bolstered our confidence. She has now become our regular customer and keeps coming every now and then.”

But then all wasn’t so hunky dory with these young entrepreneurs. Uttam says, “ A couple of days after we had set up the shop, a family of 7 came to us at 10 pm and ordered 7 plates and paid for them. But the moment the lady ate the first pani puri, she threw the plate on the ground and exclaimed that she had never had such atrocious pani puri in front of the whole crowd! We were shocked and scared because we were new in the trade and we thought probably this time the recipe had gone wrong.  We apologized and even offered to refund the money but they went away. As time passed and we improved our food’s taste, they came back again and now they are our regular customers.”

Voresh adds, “It was a good thing that this happened in the early stages because it helped us to improve our taste. Now people love the panipuri and some even come to simply drink the hing, jeera water to improve their digestion.

It has been barely an year since they have set up the shop but they are already planning to take their ‘puchka’ forward. We have already opened a new outlet in Mansarovar and now we are working on creating a pan India franchise model where we can help people to set up this business.

So, what kind of people come to their panipuri thela? Voresh says, “ The thing about panipuri is that it is a great leveller. In the evening on one hand you will see a guy getting out of his Mercedes and on the other hand you will see a poor man tired from his day’s work, walking on the road. Both these men will stand together at the golgappa thela without any thought of who is what. Now we have some very regular customers. There is this family of four which comes every other day and each time once they are done with their puchka party and payment, they buy icecreams for both of us from the nearby stall as gifts. They never take no for an answer.”

Do they ever get harassed by the authorities? “ Initially, we had a lot of issues, “says Uttam.  “People complained that we were parking our thela in the roadside area. But the authorities then came and inspected and realized that our thela wasn’t in the parking or obstructing the road any way. Voresh adds, “But many a times, policemen also come to our stall. Though most of them pay but there are some who take advantage of their uniform and just refuse to pay even a measly sum of 20 rupees. It makes us feel sad about our law and order system.”

So what is their routine like? Uttam says, “ We start preparing the panipuri from about 12 pm in the morning. By 3 pm we set up the stall and stay there till 11 pm in the night!”

For now, Voresh and Uttam are happy. Do their parents know about their little venture? Uttam laughs, “ Earlier we didn’t tell them because we are Marwaris and we were always expected to take up a government job,” says Uttam. “Mostly the boys in our community are married early. But then when this business started flourishing, the family appreciated our business acumen and encouraged us. Today we are earning more than any government job employee but my mother still keeps asking me about taking up a government job because she believes that getting a panipuri wala married is not easy!” Voresh adds, “Ab paisa kamana hai to puchka to fodna padega na!”