‘Tea, gossip, and friends.’ These are the three words you will see everywhere you go when you visit the ‘aesthetic’ tea shops that have opened in the streets of the capital. During the winter months of Pus and Magh, a crowd of people gather at the sunny tea shop to chat happily. After all, this is the place where friends meet without any excuse and spend time chatting.

If you enter a similar address in Kathmandu's Buddhanagar, you will receive a warning as soon as you enter. You can sit and chat with friends at the 'Jugaad Cafe' and sip a delicious cup of tea, but 'Ghus khan tahi manahi chha!' Written in blue letters on an old door, tea connoisseurs smile as soon as they read this warning. Gen-G customers immediately say to each other, 'That's right!'

Those who go to drink tea in Jugaad find it even more fun when they reach the counter to pay the bill. ‘My friend, I’m the one who pays the bill, I’ll order the food myself..’ As soon as they read this, the friends who come to pay the bill face each other and smile. It got its name Jugaad because it was made from old tires, broken bicycles, sewing machines, iron drums, wheelbarrows used to carry sand, gravel, soil and cement at construction sites. Before opening Jugaad Cafe four years ago, its owners, couple Mamta Devkota and Surya Neupane, ran a place called 'T O Clock', which meant tea time. Before starting that business, both of them had visited many tea shops in the city and tasted it. 

At that moment, they understood very well that even if anyone immediately said, ‘It’s a tea shop!’ Those places were not just centers for selling tea, they were also platforms for heated debates on big issues of the country. They were also places for discussions about government ‘settings’ and ‘fixing’. They had come to know that in some tea shops, government employees had entered the shops early in the morning after a ‘morning walk’, met the middleman after a few minutes of conversation, and the deal was finalized. After all, such delays can happen in places that no one would expect, like tea shops. 

Mamta, the owner of Jugaad, says that the tea stalls here are not only a place to drink tea and chat but also a place to ‘crack deals’. ‘A tea shop is a place where many things are master planned. We learn many things by sitting here, but after becoming a shop owner, we have to maintain confidentiality,’ says the management graduate, ‘So one day, while thinking about how to make Jugaad Cafe interesting, this line came up.’ 

Usually, most people spend a lot to start a business, but the Neupane couple, who have a permanent home in Nuwakot, opened this tea shop by juggling old materials found in garages, kavadi shops, etc. This shop became so popular in a short time that they have moved the shop from a small place in Buddhanagar to a larger place. ‘Since last Jestha, we have also been running a branch of Jugaad Cafe in Jawalakhel, Lalitpur,’ Mamta told Kantipur, ‘Many people have liked the equipment used and the vocabulary written in the cafe.’

While running the cafe in Buddhanagar, Mamta realized well, ‘There are more serious debates in tea shops than in Parliament.’ In fact, while sitting in the tea shop all day, she did not have to ‘scroll’ her mobile to watch the news. She would get all the information from the customers who came there, and she would listen to various arguments for and against the related issue. That is why when she opened the Jawalakhel branch of Jugaad, she wrote on the door, ‘Jugaad Cafe: There is more debate here than in Parliament.’

The operator felt, ‘Where would there be as much debate on the subject in the country’s Parliament as there is in Jugaad.’ Most of Jugaad’s customers are now Gen-G. After the Zen-G movement, the parliament building, located 800 meters from Jugad in Buddhanagar, has burned down. After this incident, Zen-G, who reached Jugad and read this article, says, ‘If the debate that is happening here had happened there, it would not have been arson!’ 

Jugad Cafe does not only write about such serious topics. As soon as you enter, you see an advertisement saying ‘wanted’. At first, you may think that this cafe needs someone to work and that is what the advertisement is for. If you think so, you will be wrong, because after paying attention for a moment, you will realize that here, not workers, but customers are needed. The conditions state, ‘No experience is required, full training will be provided, but you must have your own money. Please apply on time. Thank you. – Jugad family.’ 

In a joking manner, serious topics about love and romance are also written in the cafe – Tea in hand, heart is a joke. This is written along with a picture of a man who shows signs of being betrayed in love. The man's matthingal has a red 'broken heart' symbol. And in the cup left after drinking tea in the jugaad, you can also read short messages from your lover saying 'He is yours ...'. Another funny line is written at the entrance of the jugaad, 'Rather than being cheated by someone, sit here and have tea.' The photo with this line also went viral on social media. 'After that, the number of customers increased rapidly,' Mamta recalls. 

Many asked them if they were inspired by real-life events. But such sorrow did not come to the lives of Mamta and Surya, who were married for love. 'These are things written randomly so that those who come to drink tea will enjoy it,' Mamta said. 'Sometimes there was a fight between the old and the young about what to write. Now, when I remember it, I feel happy.' But not only the lines of separation are written here. 

‘Love story is not a place to get lost, Jugaad Cafe is the place to start.’ This line is written in memory of those who met here and became a couple through a loving conversation. Along with a loving picture of a young couple, it is written in front, ‘You and I, tea and gossip, this is it, the Jugaad of life.’ There is another line next to it, ‘I am crying in your love, the setting sun has become.’ There is also a line that will make even those who have come to sip tea in a bad mood laugh. ‘No matter what the mood, there is a solution here, Jugaad of tea, coffee and snacks.’ 

In Jawalakhel, there are also old TVs, corn cobs and old bicycles that make you ‘nostalgic’. Sometimes those scenes are captured on video and uploaded to Jugaad’s TikTok, with the tune of the evergreen Hindi song playing in the background, ‘Bekarar Karke Hame Yoon Na Jaaye. Aakopo Hamari Kasam Laut Aaye.’