You know these four people from the ‘Bag Your Rag’ lunch date, but you might not realize that they’re also best friends. When they are not chillin’ at a party together, they manage the ‘Bag Your Rag’ café without wanting to kill one another. Yeah, that’s Priya, Ronak, Varun and Vatsal.

Me: What was your ice-breaking moment?

Priya: I had a major bucket-list moment when my boys decided to work together. Varun is my brother, and Ronak and Vatsal are equally irritating as him. So yeah, it’s like handling three brothers at once.

Me: Must be fun!

Ronak: Ask us. We poor chaps have to listen to her. Her excuse is ‘I am the eldest’.

Varun: All. The. Time.

Me: So tell me, how and when did you come up with the idea to start a boutique café?

Vatsal: It was a few years back while we were dealing with clothes online under the same brand name. It was only this year that we decided to open a café.

Me: What kind of market study did it require?

Varun: More than that, it took us days to zero in a place. We thought C-scheme area would be a competition, but man, Malviya Nagar surprises us every day.

Me: Who’s your target customer?

Priya: Every age-group. You might think it’s a place for youngsters, mostly college-going. But don’t be surprised if you see an aged couple sitting next to you.

Me: Really?

Ronak: Most of the times, it’s our parents. When they don’t want to cook, they show up. Amusingly, this is happening quite a few times in a week already!

Me: Ha-ha! So how is it when they visit you?

Ronak: Oh, I mostly greet them from behind the counter. *Paya Lagu Uncle ji, Aunty ji*

Priya: *laughs* That’s true. Varun is always in the kitchen cooking and experimenting when mom and dad comes. Ronak, as he said, behind the cash counter and Vatsal greeting and taking care of the customers.

Me: What about you?

Priya: I design all the clothes that you can see hanging on the other side of the place. I do both women and men couture.

Vatsal: She is the eldest, na. She gets to relax.

Priya: You missed your dose of the punch today, didn’t you?

Me: LOL! Moving on, is the neighbourhood okay with the café playing loud music?

Priya: YES.

Me: The world is changing around us. Anyhoo, do you want to share any fond memory with us?

Vatsal: The day we began, we pressed and arranged all the clothes on the racks. Since we were still recruiting, we even did the dishes.

Me: Life has changed for all of you, eh?

Vatsal: Big time.

Ronak: Waking up at 11 am doesn’t exist in the timetable anymore. We come back home by midnight.

Varun: In short, our parents are more than happy these days.

Priya: I have seen all three of them monkeying around, partying all the freaking time and living like the majority of us do in our early twenties. Today, they are some of the most independent and responsible men I know. They value money like never before.

Ronak, Varun & Vatsal: *in chorus* Thank you! We know Rakhi is around the corner.

Priya: You guysssss!

Me: How are you learning from your mistakes?

Ronak: We’re open to reviews. If you don’t like the music, tell us. We will change our playlist. If the food is too spicy, let our Chef handle it right there. If the clothes you buy are a misfit, let us take out our measuring tapes once again.

Vatsal: The idea is to be flexible towards the people we cater to.

Priya: We’re always around. One can always come and meet us at the café. We believe in holding dialogue.

Varun: In the end, everything boils down to one thing – each other’s success is our joint success. When one of us is not available, we don’t mind taking care of his/her key area.

Me: You guys are a brilliant team. All the best.