Slice of Life: "I juggle three jobs a day", says T K Kumar

People in Indira Nagar say I make the best ginger tea in this part of town. I am there at my shop at the crack of dawn, because a number of people who are on early morning shift stop to have a cup of hot tea before proceeding to work. However, I was not always brewing tea. 

My first love has always been a newspaper. My father worked as a foreman in a small press in Mylapore. As a little boy, I used to love to see the paper being rolled out of the huge machines. After passing Class 10, I wanted to become a newspaper boy. When I told my father about my desire, he readily agreed, as he too had retired by then and my family needed the additional income. My day begins at 3. 30 am when I wait beneath the Sardar Patel  Road flyover to take a bundle of newspapers for delivery. By 6 am, I finish delivering around 300 newspapers and rush back to the teashop. Customers sometimes buy a newspaper also from me, while sipping on my tea. It is a nice feeling. 

By 11 am, when most of my regular customers have come and gone, I leave the shop in the care of my mother and wife and rush off to my third job. Yes, I work as a delivery boy for Flipkart. I have cycled to nearly 500 houses to deliver the newspapers. When I started there were nearly 20 boys who were with me and that was the best part of my life. I gradually grew, and became a newspaper agent. 

But 2003 dealt a big blow to me and my family. I suffered a heart attack. My father passed away and I faced a severe financial crunch. It was then Mangal Raj, an entrepreneur, came forward to lease out a tea shop to me. My household economics which was in a shambles then, is in better shape today because of my mother, who gave me rock-solid support during the tumultuous period, despite her personal loss. It was she who encouraged me to juggle many roles. 

I have worked for many years now, but I do not own a house. Even the tea shop does not belong to me. But I want to make my mother proud by getting her a one bedroom apartment in the area where I work. I leave it the almighty to fulfil her desire”. — As told to Lalithasai