Audi chaiwala gives Mumbaikars a taste of luxury

While most people associate a high-end car like Audi with luxury and comfort, for Mannu Sharma and Amit Kashyap, it proved to be an inspiration to set up their own tea stall here.

Sharma and Kashyap have been selling tea for Rs 20 from the trunk of the luxury car, worth Rs 70 lakh, in the plush neighbourhood of Lokhandwala in the western suburb of Andheri for the last six months and they recently went viral on social media.

The cutting chai is a staple on the streets of Mumbai and is available at humble establishments called ‘tapris’ (stalls) throughout the city.

“We were just taking a stroll at night and craving a cup of tea, but we could not find a place at the time. That’s when we thought of opening our own stall here,” said Sharma, who hails from Haryana.

It is not just the duo’s unique idea of selling ‘OD Tea’, short for on drive tea, from their Audi that has gone viral on social media, but it is also the taste of their product that has drawn customers.

“I have been coming here to have tea for the last two months because it tastes amazing. Every time I pass by this area, I have to have their tea,” one of the customers said.

Before starting their tea venture, Sharma who hails from Hisar, Haryana was a working professional in Africa, while Kashyap, a native of Punjab, is now a stock market trader by morning and a tea seller by evening.

”By selling tea in our Audi, I think we have proved wrong the thinking that only people who are financially not very well off take to selling tea. A person who rides a cycle also consumes tea and a person who drives a Jaguar can also enjoy our tea,” Sharma said.

The two friends are now basking in the love that they have received on social media and from their customers, and plan to open ‘OD tea’ franchises in the future, starting in Mumbai.

The duo practiced making tea at home and tried out different recipes for a month before finalising one and set out to sell tea from their luxury wheels.