Logo of Everyone is good at something

nukkad

nukkad
tea
cafe , chhattisgarh

Five employees of Nukkad Tea Café look up at the camera, sitting in a row on brown mosaic ascending steps. Each is sitting on a step in ascending order from left to right: Duman Sahu (27), Dageshwar (23), Ritik Soni (19), Manish Khunte (24) and Veena Khare (27). Manish has dwarfism, while the others have deafness. Duman and Ritik have thin moustaches. Duman and Veena wear transparent plastic caps that tightly cover their hair while Dageshwar wears a navy blue cap, Ritik a chocolate brown one and Manish, olive green. The men are in the café uniform of light yellow shirt and chocolate brown trousers. Veena wears brown trousers with a white T-shirt. They are holding up both their hands with fingers in a V-for-victory sign. The wall behind them is covered with a mural painted with a street scene that shows a tarred road, a yellow car, pedestrians, roadside vendors, a street musician playing a stringed instrument, and a brown dog.
The five employees are indoors. All of them hold glasses of tea. Light filters in through woven green bamboo ‘chick’ blinds drawn over a huge glass paned window behind them. To the extreme left, Veena sits on a wooden sofa facing Ritik sitting on a stool. Behind them, just in front of the window, Duman stands leaning against a wooden railing facing Manish who is perched on top of the railing. At the extreme right, Dageshwar sits on a large yellow wooden trunk, looking at Duman.
The employees stand in the café kitchen facing the camera, their hands showing the V-sign. From left to right in a row: Veena, Dageshwar, Duman and Ritik. Manish stands in front of them in the centre. Veena and Ritik have transparent plastic protective caps that tightly cover their hair. The others wear cloth caps. There are wall shelves behind them and to their right, stocked with many-sized bottles containing liquids and powders. On the platform to the right there is a large wooden cutting board. On a table to the left there are several rectangular aluminium baking tins.
The five employees in a room full of books. They are surrounded by piles of books stacked to different heights. There are books in wooden shelves on the walls. The blue wall to the left has shelves designed in different angular shapes so that the books are arranged at various inclines. The facing wall has a wooden frame inside which there are many sets of wooden panels forming a cross so that the books occupy the top halves of the crosses. Dageshwar sits on a wooden bench to the left, reading a paperback. Manish stands next to him, smiling as he looks into an open book in his hands. Duman stands next to Manish, grinning and looking down into an open book held in his hands. Veena is in profile as she sits cross-legged on the floor, holding up both forefingers while she looks at Ritik. Ritik is seated and pointing at a page of a large, open, illustrated book placed on a stack of books.
From left to right: Duman, Dageshwar, Manish, Veena and Ritik stand in a row outside the café. They are flanked by two large clay pots painted white and planted with green ornamental palms. Behind them there is a large brown wooden signboard fixed above the entry gates. It says NUKKAD in large yellow capitals and below it, in upper lower case, The Tea Cafe.
Icon to view photos in full screen

“My dream is to have a government job and a car, and to remain with the Nukkad family”

A café can be more than a meeting place. It can serve as a learning space for the general public, a convivial way to know about and connect with persons with disability (PwDs). It can also be a way of seamlessly integrating PwDs into mainstream society.
 
A café run by PwDs was a novel concept in Chhattisgarh when Priyank Patel started Nukkad Tea Café in 2013 in Raipur. Today it is a chain of four cafes (three in Raipur and one in Bhilai) employing over 70 people from marginalised communities. Those who work in Nukkad include persons with deafness, intellectual disabilities, and dwarfism, besides transgender persons (in the Bhilai cafe) and trafficking survivors.
 
Priyank, an electronics and communications engineering graduate, had joined the IT industry but felt it was not his true calling. He used to volunteer with NGOs over the weekends. After four years he quit when he was selected for the India Fellow Social Leadership Program, which chooses 25 people nationwide each year to create a learning platform for young Indians and drive change. His travels to rural communities across states opened his eyes to the needy and the marginalised among us. A significant moment occurred in a village in Maharashtra’s Ambegaon taluk, where he encountered a young talented cricket player, bedridden after a sport injury paralysed his limbs.
 
Realising the crying need for employment opportunities for the disabled, he decided to create a model place that would be a bridge between the mainstream and the marginalised, that would not only employ the disabled but also sensitise society towards them. Nukkad was born, a nook where people could meet for “chai, community and conversation”. In 2019, Priyank received the National Award for ‘Best Employer for Person with Disabilities’ by the then President of India, Ram Nath Kovind. In 2020, he received the Helen Keller award from the National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People and Mindtree.
 
When Vicky Roy went to Nukkad in Raipur’s Jal Vihar Colony in June 2023, he met Duman Saha, Dageshwar, Manish Khunte, Veena Khare and Ritik Soni. Manish has dwarfism while the others have deafness. Duman (27) is from a family of five in Raipur and has passed 12th standard. He joined Nukkad in 2020 and today works in a garment and fancy store. Manish (24) who joined the same year had completed 12th and had a Diploma in Computer Application. Today he works in the Nagar Nigam (Municipal Corporation) office. Clearly, the Nukkad experience increases the self-confidence of its employees and also opens up other avenues for them.
 
Veena (27), who hails from Dahi village in Chhattisgarh’s Dhamtari district, had recently joined when Vicky did the photo-shoot. Today she works in the New Rajendra Nagar branch of Nukkad. Dageshwar (23) from Parsatthi village in Raipur district, who had completed fifth standard and joined Nukkad in 2023, continues to work there as a waiter.
 
Priyank recalls how he began hiring Deaf persons. A group of Deaf youngsters had come to the café, seeking donations to celebrate World Deaf Day. Priyank contacted their organisation and asked if he could hire some of them. On a trial basis they picked one youngster who lived close to the café. That was Nilesh Singh Kushwaha, the first deaf person Priyank hired. “We were learning together,” he says. “I taught him how Nukkad functions and what the hospitality norms are. He taught me Sign Language.” Nilesh himself invited more friends to start working with Nukkad and within six months they had three Deaf employees.
 
These days recruitment mainly happens through word of mouth since many have come to know about this initiative, says Priyank. Today all staff, regardless of hearing ability, learns Sign Language to ensure seamless communication. The menu card includes codes in Sign, enabling customers to order smoothly when served by deaf staff. They can also write orders with paper and pen kept on all tables.
 
When new persons join they start as waiters and depending on their interest and skill set, they can move on to positions such as chef, cashier or inventory manager. In a process of shadow learning, senior employees continuously train junior ones, which helps in skill development. “We have created a familial environment,” says Priyank. Sure enough, when we recently asked Manish about his hopes for the future he replied: “To get a government job, to own a car, to be successful – and to continue to be part of the Nukkad family.” Priyank is giving his employees not just an opportunity to earn a living, but also self-respect and an identity. Simultaneously, in his own small way, he is reducing the barriers between marginalised segments and wider society.


Photos:

Vicky Roy

©Copyrights - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/