Howrah: Moral policing by some residents, including members of a local club, forced a young woman entrepreneur to keep her tea stall shut at Ankurhati on National Highway 16. The woman, Papia Ghosal, who was into modelling and also taught at several schools before becoming an entrepreneur, is scared of opening the shop after villagers plastered her shop with posters, stating that it was closed down forever by them.
The villagers accused her of "polluting" the environment. The woman has lodged a complaint with police.
Ghoshal, a resident of Andul, graduated with Honours in English from Asutosh College in 2015 and later studied aviation management. She worked as an air hostess before the pandemic and also appeared as a model in various advertisements. Later, she taught English at private schools as well. Dissatisfied with her career, she came up with the tea shop ‘Te Amo' about four months ago.
"My depression was at its peak following the death of my father in 2020. I was juggling various career options. I was inspired by the stories of MBA Chaiwala and Dolly Chaiwala on social media, and thus, decided to open a tea business. I bought a gumti and renovated it into a snazzy tea shop beside the highway. I invested around Rs 55,000 to start this venture. In no time, my shop gained popularity through social media, and after one month, I started facing hurdles posed by the locals," she recounted.
"Locals ganged up with the members of Pushpakali Club to warn me against running the shop. They called me ‘Russian Didi' because of my dress. I tried to sort out the matter with them several times, but that yielded no results. They levelled various allegations to malign my image."
Sheikh Tanvir, a member of Pushpakali Club, said, "The woman's intentions are not good. Under the guise of running a tea business, she is spoiling the area's environment. Many anti-social elements are coming to the area to see her on the pretext of having tea.."
An officer from Howrah City Police said, "Her tea stall encroaches on the NH land. Additionally, there are significant objections from local residents. Therefore, until she can present a consent letter from the National Highway Authority and obtain locals' permission, it is not possible for the police to provide any protection."
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