“Chai” is a part of every Indian household, as the morning breaks our bodies wake up to the smell of pepper and repeats its magic as we sip it all through the day. This small cup knows no religion, no class, no gender as it makes itself a part of every Indian’s lifestyle. Sure it changes its flavors, its aroma, its way of drinking but the basic essence always remains the same; the invisible friend in all conversation, whether its the gossip of two household neighbors or heated debates on democracy. Yet what’s more interesting is how some “chailwalas” or “chaiwalis” use the secret messages chai brings to achieve greatness or unbelievable luck. Their stories sing of adventures, risks taken along the way, luck that smiled upon them and courage to follow their dreams.
1. Narendra Modi: Prime Minister of India
Narendra Modi’s life is one of marginalized childhood, struggling youth and inspiring adulthood, a life that will never fail to inspire several other lives. His early years saw a father that sold tea at the railway station Vadnagar station, where Modi often helped to earn the family earning. These early created a deep impact on him, this humble gesture taught him of service that became his goal in life; serving his mother India. When he was 9 years old, he and his started a food stall and donated the proceeds for relief work to the victims of flood disaster in the Tapi River. Similarly, when India-Pak was at its peak he set out to the railway station and served tea to the Jawans who were going and coming from the border. “Chai” somehow in a small way created the legend we know by the name of Narendra Modi.
2. Uppma Virdi: Indian-Australian Chai Walli
This beautiful 26-years-old Indian-Australian is such a successful “chaiwali” that she bagged herself the award of Businesswoman of the Year at a glittering ceremony by the 2016 Indian Australian Business and Community Awards (IABCA) in Sydney last week. Her inspiration lies in the influence of her grandfather who was an Ayurvedic doctor and after finding no good “chai” in Melbourne, she decided to bring this essence of Indian culture to the Australian Society. Even though this Chai Walli isn’t a full-time cafe owner yet, still runs an online business with occasional showcases and workshops. She is, in fact, a lawyer working for a firm in Melbourne.
3. Syed Khadar Basha: 30 minutes of free Wifi for 5 rupee cup
Basha, who has only studied till class 10 surely has bagged an MBA strategy, that has gathered a lot of social media buzz and booming business with a regular clientele of college students from the remote town in Siruguppa. The secret is simple once you buy a cup of tea, he hands over a coupon with the Wi-Fi password that’s valid for the next half-an-hour. Ever since he started this scheme in September, his sales have hiked by four times, so much so that you can see queues of waiting customers.
4. Chai Walas Of India
Zach and Resham who have appeared in The New York Times and Time Out Magazine among other publications for their journalist achievements, came to India on Fulbright-Nehru Fellowship, teaching English to kids in Slums and government schools. It was o then that they decided to showcase the beautiful stories of chai wallahs from India’s many distinct regions, highlighting the variations in chai culture and the role chai wallahs play in different communities. The goal behind the documentation is to depict the various shades of “chai” culture that knits India’s diversity and unity.
5. Arshad Khan: A blue-eyed chaiwala whose now a Model
A Brother of 17 siblings, this blue-eyed handsome young chaiwala went from being a tea seller at Islamabad’s Sunday Bazaar (Peshawar Chowk) to an internet sensation in India and Pakistan bagging him modeling contracts and TV serials. The Instagram post on October 14 by aspiring photographer Jiah Ali (@jiah_ali) took over the internet on such a scale that the story was even picked up by international media, including popular US website Buzzfeed.
He has now become someone whose name is easy to forget.
Either its a crazy coincidence that Chai has shined on several’s fortune or there is some kind of magic that creates this recent show of popularity that these tea-sellers could enjoy.
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