Meet Suvan, a young entrepreneur opening a small café. He wants to track all his menu items and sales digitally. So, he decides to build his first database.

And like every good recipe, it starts with the right structure.

Chapter 1: Creating the Table – Designing the Blueprint

Suvan:

“I need a place to store all my dishes—name, price, and category.”

Enter SQL.

He creates a table called Menu:

CREATE TABLE Menu (
    DishID INT PRIMARY KEY,
    DishName VARCHAR(50),
    Category VARCHAR(20),
    Price DECIMAL(5,2)
);

What does this mean?

• DishID is a number that uniquely identifies each dish.
• DishName holds text up to 50 characters.
• Category helps organize items (e.g., ‘Dessert’, ‘Drink’).
• Price allows for decimals, like 12.50.

Chapter 2: Inserting Data – Adding Dishes to the Menu

Now that the table is ready, Suvan starts adding dishes:

INSERT INTO Menu (DishID, DishName, Category, Price)
VALUES (1, 'Masala Dosa', 'Main Course', 7.99);

He adds a few more:

INSERT INTO Menu VALUES 
(2, 'Filter Coffee', 'Beverage', 2.50),
(3, 'Gulab Jamun', 'Dessert', 3.00);

Each row is like an ingredient added to the kitchen—real data now lives inside the Menu table.

Chapter 3: Mistakes & Fixes

Oops! Suvan entered a duplicate DishID.

The system throws an error:

“Primary key violation.”

He learns:

• Every DishID must be unique.
• SQL protects your data from accidental duplication.

Chapter 4: Looking Inside

Suvan checks if his menu looks good:

SELECT * FROM Menu;

It returns:

1 | Masala Dosa   | Main Course | 7.99  
2 | Filter Coffee | Beverage    | 2.50  
3 | Gulab Jamun   | Dessert     | 3.00

He smiles—it’s working.

Chapter 5: Bulk Insert – Getting Ready for Launch

On launch day, he adds more dishes with one query:

INSERT INTO Menu (DishID, DishName, Category, Price)
VALUES 
(4, 'Idli Vada', 'Main Course', 5.50),
(5, 'Lassi', 'Beverage', 3.25),
(6, 'Rasgulla', 'Dessert', 3.10);

No need for one-by-one entry—bulk insert saves time.

Lessons Suvan Learned:

1. Use CREATE TABLE to build the foundation.
2. Use INSERT INTO to feed data into your table.
3. Set a primary key to avoid duplicates.
4. Insert multiple rows at once for speed.
5. Always SELECT * to verify your data.

Conclusion: Your Table Is Your Café

In Suvan’s story, the SQL table is like a kitchen shelf:

• Columns define what to expect (name, type, price)
• Rows are actual dishes added day by day
• SQL helps keep everything organized, clean, and easy to update