Soumayashree Mishra 
Biswajit Tripathy, a first-generation entrepreneur, who spent 28 years in various corporate houses, to launch his own wellness Tea startup, Teasana. He retired from his job from a very senior profile to pursue his passion. His profound fondness for tea, the unending opportunities to explore various flavors, and the enchanting benefits of each compelled him to launch his dream venture, primarily to share his experience with millions of other tea enthusiasts. He is an author, a photographer, a painter, and an artist, but most importantly, he is a dreamer. Currently, he is combining all of his skills to conduct research and present the global tea consortium with life-changing experiences. Teasana, his label, is currently ranked as one of the top ten start-ups in the Tea & Coffee Industry by Industry Outlook for 2021-22. This is a huge accomplishment because Teasana is the first Odisha-based start-up to be named among the top ten. With only two years in the market, it is a testament to his innovative entrepreneurship, boldness in risking everything, and single-handedly overcoming numerous obstacles in the aftermath of the pandemic to emerge victorious.
He is an author, photographer, painter, and artist, as well as a tea connoisseur, but most importantly, he is a dreamer. Teasana has created tea to treat a variety of medical conditions, including diabetes, high blood pressure, and, most recently, thyroid and Asthma. Teasana also offers On-Demand Tea and would be happy to curate tea for you if you have any health issues. They currently sell their tea in 61 cities across seven countries.
1. Why did you decide to start your own herbal tea startup?
I graduated with a computer science degree in 1990 and got my desired job, got married a few years later and had kids. But life felt somewhat incomplete, didn’t know what back then but something was missing. Somewhere around Feb 2000 , stumbled across a tea stall while on a trip to Vijayawada, ordered tea and I started talking to the owner. There I realized what was missing in my life.
Sometimes things just happen, and we don’t get the chance to prepare ourselves to absorb it, whether it’s success or failure. Sometimes we wait so long but nothing happens. But it just takes place in the least excepted moment. The truth is that everything happens at its right time. And the same thing happened with me.
But then life happened, I changed cities and jobs and got busy with life, but I didn’t give up on the dream. 18 years later, tragedy struck me. My dad passed away and I had to retire and return to Bhubaneswar to be with mom. That was when my passion reignited and my dream came to the forefront, and that was when I decided to pursue my passion for tea blending.
2. What are the difficulties you faced during the process to make your business successful
I won’t say I faced any difficulties but rather quite a few challenges. Whenever you plan to start something, it is obvious you will come up with many roadblocks and challenges, but that’s the beauty of chasing your own dreams. I had my share of difficulties when I came back to my hometown 12 years after I left. From choosing the right vendors to supply of raw materials, service providers to help establish the organization, and getting the right blends… it was a constant stream of issues that had to be overcome. Wrong people taught me what not to do and the right people helped me believe in ethics. And while I was building my dream, I came across a lot of people who were facing the same issues that I did. I decided to mentor those who are on the same path as me and joined and developed communities where tips & referrals are passed to whoever needs any. I am still learning and passing on the learning to others on the way.
3. You are in limelight in every field, you are author, writer, and photographer, what do art and culture mean to you?
I have been writing ever since I was in class 6, but my writing has matured over time. Those days, I used to write for magazines and newspapers; nowadays I am writing to satisfy my passion. I write movie reviews, gadget reviews, poems, and so on. I have conceived and written a novel that is India’s First Collaborative Novel. A novel that was written by 8 writers from different parts of India and compiled to become one Novel, “The Day I Died”. This book is available on Amazon and I would request all to read it coz the concept is very unique and different and I am sure any and everyone who reads can connect to it.
Photography happened to me 26 years back when my younger sister bought me a camera from her maiden US trip. I have moved on from a point-and-shoot camera to DSLR, and have won hundreds of awards and the journey is still on.
I believe art is an expression of appreciating beauty and an expression of our emotions. Art evokes emotions irrespective of whether it’s happy or sad. To me, it can be anything, illustration, painting, written or spoken word, music, drama, or performance. When you go through them, some make you happy, some make you sad, some make you smile and some other makes you cry. Art can predict the future and it can also showcase the past.
4. What is your vision in the future for your start-up Teasana?
We would love to become the “Tea of the Nation” and contribute to the health and wellness of every Indian. Once this dream is fulfilled, we would like to go global. Though we have been supplying to a few cities in seven countries, we would love to go mainstream. We want Teasana to be what Times of India to the newspaper or Amul to the dairy industry.
5. What is the message you want to convey to youth generation for creating their own startup?
My answer may not exactly be relevant to this question but I would like to tell something that would be relevant to everyone reading this.
• Do something you love so that you don’t have to work a single day in your life.
• There is no perfect timing to do anything in life, the perfect time is today, the perfect time is NOW.
• If you have a dream, chase it aggressively. Work on it, Don’t run away from obstacles. Remember, there is no easy way to achieve your dreams. Stay focused. Enjoy the process.
Ten years from now, nothing else matters, except where you are, what you are. So act today. When you are on the verge of giving up “There’s mile to go before I sleep, There’s mile to go before I sleep.”
6. What are the different products that Teasana provides? Please elaborate.
We intend to have a tea for every health ailment that is around us. What we don’t have, we will make you one in coming days.
Currently, we have 47 tea blends from Green Tea, Black Tea, and Oolong Tea. Important among them are Asthma Tea, Thyroid Tea, Anti Diabetic Tea, PCOS Tea, FAT Burn Tea, 3 flavours of Moringa Tea, 4 flavours of Lavender Tea, Dandelion Tea, Jasmine Drops tea, Blooming flower tea. We have two flavours of Wine tea that are Rum & Raisin Tea and Himalayan Wine Tea. We also have several varieties of Masala Chai that includes Tandoori Chai, Mirchi Chai, Punjabi Tadka Chai, Afghani Saffron Spice Tea, Kashmiri Masala Chai. In Green tea, we have Lavender Rose Tea, Lemon Ginger tea, Kashmiri Kahwa Tea, Turmeric Ginger Tulsi tea, Casablanca Mint Tea, Hibiscus and Jasmine Tea, Chamomile Tea, Rosemary Lavender Tea, Lemongrass Tea, and so on. Though we make customized tea and can make almost any tea that can be demanded; we have a few upcoming teas that is bamboo leaf tea and Alkaline Tea.
