Chai Pe Kissagoi meetup – a Fantabulous Success
What happens when just a crazy idea turns into a mind-boggling reality? That’s what ensued when Preety Auluck and Nitish Mohan Batham, both prominent personalities of LinkedIn, discussed if it was possible to have a meet-up where freshly brewed homemade tea could be served.
Nitish had come up with the idea of hosting a few people where he could brew tea for all of them, and he posted his idea on his WhatsApp status. And that’s where the magic of staying connected with a wonderful community happened. Preety replied to his status and offered to help find a suitable apartment with a huge drawing room. After a bit of research, she offered her own cozy and comfy home to host around 20 people.
The idea had started to brew up already. The concept of having so many strangers at someone’s home was crazy enough that got the hosts the right traction.
Crazy ideas work in today’s ecosystem, right?
However, when people are bringing up those mental pictures, they often do not realize that the idea will actually click with more folks. In the era when dozens of meet-ups happen every day in a professional setting, the idea of serving tea made by a host in the house of another host made all the difference in grabbing the attention of Founders, Writers, and Social Media Marketers. The marketing done on LinkedIn and WhatsApp is another story though!
Why Chai pe meet-up?
How did Nitish get the idea of hosting a tea party where he would cook and serve Chai? He tells the story of a time when he was with his father’s elder brother in Lucknow taking care of him, and making a variety of tea for him while he recovered from a serious ailment. That is when he came up with the idea of a Chai pe meet-up. And after attending a series of get-togethers with Who’s Who of LinkedIn, he had it in his mind to bring his own community together, and he did a great job in doing that.
Why Ghar par meet-up?
While researching an apartment for the unique Kulhad tea party event, Preety came up with the idea of hosting a tea party for absolute strangers at her own house. Why go to someone else’s house when your own house is like a party palace? She suggested her idea to Nitish and both of them clicked! So that’s how everything unfolded and a huge hit of an event was held!
How did people start volunteering?
The first volunteer-cum-sponsor was for the tea itself. Nistirrya, the organic tea was sponsored by Manoj Kathuria.
Then came Mayank Gangwani, who offered help of any kind since he lived in Preety’s neighborhood, and brought in extra chairs to make everyone comfy in the house.
The hosts were surprised to have Sidhant Jain, who offered to bring brownies and cakes for everyone. His mother’s brand, Cake Sapphire, will be remembered by all as every bit of the cake was devoured by the excited audience. Even the health-conscious folks could not resist the delectable brownies. Then, the Kulhads were sponsored by Soumya Dhani, a psychologist by profession; and Samosas and wafers were brought in by Tushar.
The hosts had it in mind that a few people do not consume tea; Ayushi Tomar held the baton for Cold drink lovers and brought in the tetra packs of buttermilk and juices. Shekhar Oberoi gave his huge bit by helping in designing the logo for the Chai Pe Kissagoi meetup, which is used to promote the brand for further PR and marketing.
And the major cost of the venue was obviously waived off because it was being hosted at home. Nitish did the task of bringing in all the brilliant folks together, which was heartily welcomed by all. Can you believe that one or the other person picked up the tab for each bit for this meet-up?
A tea party for which the hosts would have surely paid any amount to make it a reality ended up being a free-of-cost potluck lunch!
What about the goof-up?
How would an event become memorable if something doesn’t go wrong?
The living room AC that had been working fine for ages had water dripping from it half an hour before the party began! But as they say, when an event is bound to happen, it will happen. Preety got the AC fixed in a jiffy by the Godsend technicians, and everyone could feel at ease afterward. Such incidences give a lesson of being brave when things go south, whether it is your event or someone else’s.
Who all got what all?
The event was more than houseful from the beginning. Preety had already told everyone that 20 people would comfortably fit in her living room, but Nitish and Preety could not say no to another 10 people who were even ready to adjust their bottoms and rub shoulders (quite literally) with each other while many also said that they were happy to stand as well!
Whoa!!
What an enthusiastic audience!
The last time, Justin Bieber got such pumped-up public in India!
The highlight of the event was a Storyteller- Nikhil Mishra, just 22 years of age. He narrated his story in the end when everyone was a little restless and worn out, but in a voice that captured the attention of each one in the house. Everyone who was busy making personal connections, eating snacks, or clicking pictures held their breath and listened to this stellar storyteller! He got hired right away by Soumya Dhani for her next meetup-cum-workshop.
The founders of Nistirrya, Manoj, and his partner, Swati impressed the audience with their founder’s story and grabbed clients.
The learners of the event were a number of writers, social media marketers, and SEO experts who studied the experienced members of the community.
Preety Auluck encouraged the newbies to give a detailed introduction, become better at telling their own stories, and learn how to earn to the best of their capabilities. The entire session was casual, easygoing, and full of smiles and laughter.
And there was an after party as well when a few people didn’t want to leave. They had a prolonged discussion with Preety’s family about how her journey began as an entrepreneur and played along with her naughty little 3-year-old son who had been sent out for a play date during the entire session.
All in all, the Chai Pe Kissagoi’s first meet-up concluded well. The brand is a hit, right after the first event, and there are many more to go for sure.
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Chai Pe Kissagoi tagline: Helping Founders, Freelancers & Creators to become better Storytellers while they sip Chai.
If you loved attending or reading about the first meetup by Preety and Nitish, and would love to attend the next event/meetup with other founders, freelancers, social media marketers, and creators in Delhi NCR, you can fill up this google form and share it with your friends.
Chai Pe Kissagoi has its official Instagram, Twitter & LinkedIn accounts. You can follow the accounts to stay updated about upcoming events.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChaiPeKissagoi
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/chaipekissagoi
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chaipekissagoi/