Caf� �La Gravitea� employs deaf-mute young girls and boys
Jamshedpur, March 11 : From a corporate official to a tea kiosk operator to now an owner of 2,000 sqft caf� at city�s posh area Circuit House, life has been a roller coaster ride for young entrepreneur Avinash Dugar. What started as a small idea has now brewed into an inspirational start-up with deaf-mute young girls and boys being employed.
The famous caf� called La Gravitea in posh Circuit House Area has employed waitresses and cooks, all sourced from Sonari’s BalVihar, an institution that works with the hearing impaired.Apart from serving breakfast, lunch and drinks, the most unique feature about the cafeteria is their initiative to empower women with hearing impaired.
�I always had a passion to start my own venture. Moreover, I want to serve the society in every way possible. I resigned from corporate world and started my own tea vending kiosk.I had a popular tea kiosk near Sacred Heart Convent School, where one morning a hearing impaired girl came with her brother,” recounted Dugar.
While looking at her and hearing her story from her brother Dugar realised that differently abled people, especially girls, have particularly no employment opportunities in the country. Then, the young entrepreneur came up with the idea of Gravitea.
La Gravitea is the most sought after caf� in famous for its more than 100 international varieties of tea. Green, white, organic, ice, flavoured, herbal, blooming – you name it and you will get it at.
His passion lies in a teacup, from being spreading the benefits of tea without milk and sugar, taken without milk and sugar, have more health benefits as they have high antioxidant properties, reduce bad cholesterol and promote healthy growth of cells.
Dugar, who hails from Bikaner in Rajasthan and studied in Bhawanipur Education Society College in Calcutta, came to the city in 2005. The caf� houses everything related to tea from tea leaves to books to tea pots. He has a collection of over 70 varieties of tea from places like China, Kenya, Indonesia, Nepal and Russia and of course India. These include herbal teas with flavours such as lemongrass, mint, rose, berry, jujube, lotus seed, as well as fruity ones such as orange, mango and strawberry.
In an eatery, customers want taste, quality and speedy service, Dugar said. “Uniqueness of the caf� is that people not only like the tastes being served but also the staff who despite being differently abled are able to connect to the customers. We found out that it really did not matter to anyone if the girls are hearing impaired. People love the food and ambience. They also love to see the staff conversing through signs,” Dugar said.
People frequenting to the caf� love to spend time here. �The ambience is lovely, cozyalong with the charming servers. The best part of the caf� is that the owner himself makes sure you are comfortable. I tried the vanilla Ceylon tea and loved it,� said Rajeev Sinha, a young graduate.
Dugar said that overwhelmed with the response La Gravitea is also planning to set up cafeterias in other cities soon to employ differently abled girls and empower them in the process.
