Vijayan, a wayside tea-seller from Kochi in Kerala, along with his wife Mohana has already visited 23 countries including Britain, France, Austria, Egypt and UAE
They open the tea stall even before dawn. Once people see that the tea making pot is on the gas stove the shop gets crowded. Vijayan and Mohana’s kiosk, Shree Balaji Coffee stall, is at Kochi in Kerala. Besides tea and
Let us have a look on the couple’s rare life style. Vijayan and Mohana have already travelled 23 countries banking on the profit from the tea stall. Is it surprising? You must be thinking they earn a lot from the shop. Yet, the fact is something else. This coupe earns only 2 to 3 thousand rupees per day from the coffee stall. Out of that they save 300 rupees.
They opt for a foreign trip almost in every three years. After the required amount is saved, they set out on the trip. If they would not manage to gather the required amount, they don’t hesitate to mortgage the shop to have a loan. Since they remain absent from the business at times, they have not employed any staff in the shop.
Since childhood Vijayan loves to visit new places. Afterwards it became his passion. To fulfill his dream he earlier used to secretly sell the paddy stored in his house. His father is his inspiration after whose demise he inherited the tea stall in 1963 which later became instrumental to fulfill his dream.
Vijayan is selling tea for last 55 years. He married 45 years ago. Before marriage, his wife had not stepped out even out of Ernakulum. However, post marriage, now, not one, but two people go on the trip. Initially they visited different places of the country and later went on foreign trips. So far the couple has visited London, Paris, Switzerland, Jordan, Singapore and Malaysia.
Vijayan’s dream is to see the whole world. And he finds his own way to fulfill his dream. He bravely faces any hurdle that comes on the way. At times people laugh at him for this strange hubby but he never pays heed to them. As his shop remains closed, he has to borne loss. Besides, he also needs to worry about the bank payments that he needs to pay against the loan. However, Vijayan is of the view that if he will run after money he may not fulfill his dream. The passion of visiting has made him a rare personality.
Vijayan says, “I cannot express in words, the satisfaction I get out of visiting foreign lands. And in this effort, my wife has become my inspiration.”
Now Vijayan is 67 while his wife is 65. They want to visit more countries. However, they also need to care about the family. Impressed with the couple’s passion, biggies like Amitabh Bachchan, Anupam Kher and Congress leader Sashi Tharur have extended their hand of help to provide funding.
The couple’s first foreign tour was to Egypt. They have displayed the currency and map of the countries that they have visited, at the tea stall. Even a film has been made on them that has fetched them a Film Fare award in the non-fiction category. The couple has turned celebrity. They have been published in national and international media.
Emotional Vijayan wishes to die someday during a foreign tour. His message is synonymous to a line from a famous Odia poem which reads, “
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