IITian laid off in US now sells tea in Los Angeles: Story of a bihari chaiwala

Bihari Chaiwala in LA

• Prabhakar Prasad lost his tech job in LA amid mass layoffs.
• He started selling masala chai and poha at farmers' markets.
• His chai stall gained popularity and media attention.

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When Prabhakar Prasad graduated from IIT Kharagpur, one of India's most prestigious engineering institutes, his future seemed set. Like thousands before him, he went to America. He joined the tech industry. He worked hard. He lived the dream that so many young engineers chase.

Then, in February 2025, it all stopped.

The email from HR was brief and clinical. His position had been eliminated. He was one of thousands caught in the wave of layoffs sweeping through the technology sector. In one moment, a decade of careful career building was reduced to a goodbye message and an exit interview.

For the first few weeks, Prasad did what anyone in his position would do. He updated his resume. He reached out to former colleagues. He sent applications into the void of online job portals. The responses were few. The rejections were many. The silence was the hardest part.

Sitting in his apartment in Los Angeles, staring at a laptop that no longer connected to anything important, he faced a simple question. What now?

He could have waited longer. He could have hoped for the market to turn. Instead, he made a choice that surprised everyone, including himself.

He decided to sell chai.

Not as a joke. Not as a gimmick. As work. Real, honest work.

The idea came from home. Prasad is from Bihar, a state known for its simple, earthy food and its roadside tea stalls where people gather at all hours. His mother and grandmother taught him how to make masala chai the right way. The right blend of cardamom, ginger and cloves. The right boil for the milk and leaves. It was knowledge he had carried with him without ever thinking it had value.

At the farmers' markets around Los Angeles, he found out it did.

He started small. A table. A large kettle. Cups. Containers of poha, the flattened rice dish that is breakfast for crores in India. He made fresh chai and waited.

The first customers were curious. They saw an Indian man making tea and stopped to try. The taste was different from anything they had tried before. It was spiced. It was creamy. It was warm in a way that went beyond temperature. They came back. They brought friends.

Word spread. A local writer called him the "Bihari Chaiwala of LA." The name captured something true about his story. He was a man from Bihar, carrying forward a tradition, but doing it thousands of miles from home in a city known for juice bars and organic coffee.

He charges around eight dollars for a cup of chai. By Indian standards, that is unthinkable. By California farmers' market standards, it is simply the cost of a specialty drink made with real ingredients and care. His poha sells separately. The math works.

Prasad started documenting the journey on Instagram. Not for fame, but to show what was possible. The videos are simple. He makes tea. He talks to customers. He sets up his stall. He packs up at the end of the day. Viewers responded not to polish, but to authenticity. Here was a man who lost a six-figure tech job and decided to build something with his own hands rather than wait for another company to save him.

His story arrives at a moment when thousands of tech workers are facing the same uncertainty. According to layoff trackers, the industry has cut hundreds of thousands of jobs since 2024. Companies are restructuring. Artificial intelligence is changing what skills matter. The old certainties are gone.

Prasad does not pretend his path is for everyone. He is not selling a fantasy. He is selling tea. It is hard work. He wakes early to grind spices. He loads his car and drives to the market. He stands on his feet for hours. He manages inventory. He deals with slow days.

But he also deals with no one telling him his job is gone.

The tech industry may not want him right now. That does not mean he has nothing to offer. He has his hands. He has his recipe. He has the willingness to work.