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Biswashree Sahoo

Spoilt for choice at Ram Bhai’s 85-variety chai shop

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Bhubaneswar, March 20 (LocalWire): Some like their morning cuppa, some relish their afternoon tea while there are others who can have a hot sip any time of the day.

And if you are one who loves to have your green tea, masala chai or English tea according to the time of the day, you need to stop by and pick yours from Ram bhai’s 85 varieties of tea.

In the ground floor of a huge market complex, surrounded by small fast food stalls, is a small tea shop, hardly visible from a distance, offering a cup of tea ranging from Rs 10 to Rs 100.

A tea connoisseur’s delight, this tiny shop at CRPF Square, is swarming with people any time of the day and owned by 35-year-old Mr Ram Pradhan, well known as Ram bhai, who hails from Cuttack.

Ram owned a fruit shop earlier followed by a shop that sold eggs but he failed in both the business as he had to shift stalls.

Ram then changed his business and started a small road-side tea stall here in 2005 and gradually set up shop selling different types of tea.

He says he has some loyal customers from Bhubaneswar and nearby cities who frequent his shop solely because of the quality of the tea he serves and also because of his demeanour.

‘I provide quality tea at good price’ says Ram bhai with a smile. He is winning hearts with his welcoming smile while serving hot tea in small earthen pots.

‘I could not afford to continue my studies after standard 9 and began working in a private company in Kolkata.

During my stay in Kolkata I learnt about a variety of herbs and ingredients and the art of preparing tea. I went on to get training from centres of Organic India in Kolkata and Hyderabad,’ Ram said.

After coming back to Odisha, he decided to setup a tea business. ‘I have wide variety of drinks which is hardly available in other shops,’ he displays proudly. Ram has recently added new items such as flower red tea, butter tea, English tea, yellow tea, chocolate tea and white tea to the menu.

According to him, ingredients required for preparing the tea are bought online and are of good quality. He is also planning to invest money to acquire a large space to open a bigger shop.

LocalWire

TikTok app clocks teen addicts by the dozen; parents apprehensive (Special)

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Bhubaneswar, March 15 (LocalWire): Hundreds and thousands of youngsters around the world are downloading the express-yourself video app TikTok for their 20 seconds of fame and Odisha teens are not far behind.

TikTok, a widely used media application for creating and sharing short videos is owned by China’s ByteDance.

It was launched as Douyin in September 2016 in China and spread like wildfire across the globe in just a few years.

The app gained momentum when it merged with another social media platform musical. ly creating a larger video community and became the world’s most downloaded app surpassing Facebook, YouTube and Instagram in 2018.

It has reached 150 markets internationally and is available in 75 languages.

Among the 500 million users globally more than 20 million are Indians and Tik Tok has penetrated even the local markets. The wide acceptance of this app shows people’s interest in creating an attractive social image.

Odisha’s Tik Tok users have a lot to say about the popularity of the app in the state and the reason why it is dangerously addictive in nature.

‘As I have got dancing and singing skills without training, I feel like an actor when I create and post videos on TikTok,’ says Debashish Parida of Unit-8, Bhubaneswar.

Another user of Dhenkanal, Barsa told LocalWire, ‘I have seen my friends make videos and I was also interest to try to create and post videos. I also wanted to be famous among my peers.’

‘TikTok is a platform to showcase our talents free of cost and for some people it has even become a source of income hence it is beneficial’ is what Neetushree Garanaik from Balasore had to say.

Trilochana Behera from Rourkela says ‘I just love doing Tik Tok videos, it’s a source of entertainment and relaxation for me and I don’t think it hampers my study.’

Monalisa Samal, who is new to TikTok says ‘I love making videos but it kills my time as I am too much absorbed in it.’

Despite such huge number of fans, Tik Tok has been disliked and trolled by many.

Anwesha Mansingh of Ravenshaw University who is not a Tik Toker says, ‘It’s good for entertainment but fake emotions annoy me. The app has influenced young users and they are addicted to it.’

Parents are concerned about how technological advances have bad impact on their children as not only teenagers, children below the age of 10 years are also seen active on TikTok.

Today’s generation while trying to keep pace with anything that is trending have started imitating others and in spite of having their own unique qualities, they are losing their identity day by day.

LocalWire

Now book a funeral service at the click of mouse

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Bhubaneswar, March 5 (Localwire): Imagine arranging pyre wood, cremation facility, transport and priest for funeral – all by the family members themselves. It’s a tall order to do at a time of crisis.

A local company, though, provides all these services at your doorstep at the click of a mouse.

Entrepreneur Plaban Mohapatra’s swargadwara.com helps people arrange the last rites of departed souls online in a trouble-free manner.

Launched in December 2016 and manned by 11 dedicated staff, his venture provides services from “Pre-Antimkriya” to “Sradh” to the bereaved families.

A computer science graduate himself, Mohapatra first came up with the idea after he faced a similar situation while working in a US-based company.

“Death is inevitable, but helping family members at such an hour of crisis is a noble thing to do,” he said.

He said his venture is a single point platform for funeral services.

Currently, the services are available in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Puri, Balasore and Berhampur, but more cities would be added soon, he said.

“Over 700 customers have already used our services. I’m happy with their feedback. They speak more about our work than us,” Mohapatra said.

LocalWire