Out of love for his father, son quits his job in Australia to run family tea shop in Kerala

A youngster in Kerala has traded in his high-paying corporate job in Australia to run a small tea shop at Mekkad in Ernakulam, Kerala to commemorate his father who was running it. Jyothi Swaroop N R,39, who has been working as a site engineer for a FMCG company in Australia, decided to quit his job and take over the reins of the small tea shop as a profound tribute to his father A Nandhakumar who passed away in 2022 following a cardiac failure.

Swaroop has worked in 14 countries in the last couple of years. He was working in Australia when he decided to quit the job. The tea shop J J S at Pallipadi, Mekad had been a labor of love for Swaroop’s father. It was not just a business; it was a testament to years of hard work and dedication that allowed Nandhakumar to provide for his family, including funding Swaroop’s education.

Swaroop, overcome with a sense of gratitude and a desire to honour his father’s legacy, decided to leave his career behind and dedicate himself to running the hotel. Swaroop is the eldest of the three children of Nandhakumar. He has a sister and a brother.

“My father started this tea shop on January 1, 2000. He had put in his heart and soul into this tea-shop. Though he used to provide breakfast and meals to the customers, he stopped it because he couldn’t manage things on his own. When I asked him three years ago whether I could join him to run the tea shop, he was against it. He objected saying that he had given education to me not for toiling at a small tea shop,” Jyothi Swaroop told “Open Digest.”

After his father’s death,  Swaroop decided to reopen the tea shop. “I am really happy that I could take such a decision. I am peaceful with myself living a quiet life with my family,” he said.

Swaroop wakes up at 4.15 am every morning and works at the tea shop till 7 pm. He has a West Bengal native as a helper at the tea shop. Swaroop’s mother A Remadevi helps him preparing food and snacks. “We sell around 400 teas per day. My mother is my strength. Without her support, I will not be able to run the tea shop. I have plans to expand the business in the future”, he added.

As Swaroop works to uphold the standards set by his father, the small tea shop becomes not just a place to enjoy a cup of tea but a living tribute to the enduring bond between a father’s hard work and a son’s devotion.