Two tea stalls on Thimmaiah Road — Jaani and Dilkush — have been serving the cup that cheers for a pretty long time.
Both have become part of the landscape, so to say. Jaani has been there for nobody knows how long and Dilkhush is at least two decades old.
But for some time now, their world has become topsy-turvy. A commercial buzz, land in Thimmaiah Road is gold.
Those who run them hear the road will accommodate more vehicles and they must move away soon. But where? They ask.
“How can the BBMP be so inhuman,” wonders Aslam Khan of Jaani tea stall.
Tucked at a corner, Jaani is the favourite hang out for hundreds of people who work around. In and around this small shop, people relish tea and snacks discussing their works, their bosses, and their families.
For five generations, the stall has been run by the Khans. For his elder brother, who has a slightly larger auto consultant shop, his tea shop is the landmark, not the autoshop, Khan says with a visible pride.
Today, as the street faces the threat of road widening, everyone is upset. Khan, who lives with his joint family just above the tea stall, stands to lose every inch of his land. His fear is relocation. He doesn’t want to be displaced or take compensation.
As DNA listens to his woes, people around pitch in. Ahmed, an engineer, says: “He has earned such a lot of good will that everybody knows him and his tea stall. How will he relocate a business that has grown over a century?”
Even as Ahmed speaks for Aslam, he keeps his own woe concealed. He stands to lose his house. “It’s all because of this mindless road widening project,” he says.
Mohamed Zafrulla, who set the shop Dilkush shop in his early 20s, gives a haggard look. “The road widening will bring my entire family on to the street. Where will we go,” he asks.
Many set to lose their land are equally piqued. None of them seem to be happy with the TDR plan and no amount of consoling helps them. “Does this government care for its people,” they all ask. Are the authorities listening?
