Chaiwala

A chaiwala (Hindi: चायवाला, IAST: cāyavālā) is a person who prepares, sells or serves tea on streets or small roadside shops in Pakistan and India. Literally, 'chai' means tea in Hindi and a chaiwala is the one who sells tea. They boil a mixture of water and milk, add tea leaves and then strain the tea into containers or a tea kettle.

Chaiwalas, as an entrepreneurial group, tend to move from different regions of India to run their small business in major cities. Chaiwalas usually serve tea in a small glasses or unglazed clay teacups (kulhar) but, in recent years, they have started to serve tea in plastic cups. Traditionally, chai was made in brass vessels; however that appears to be changing in some places. Some regard the methods of brewing tea to be unhygienic, however often it is regarded to be safe since the tea is boiled.

In the 1955 classic film Shri 420, the hero (Raj Kapoor) brings the heroine (Nargis) to a road-side tea stall. The chaiwala insists on receiving a payment of two annas for the two cups. In the 2009 drama Slumdog Millionaire, the lead character, Jamal Malik (played by Dev Patel), is a chaiwala in an Indian call center.

In October 2016, a young Chaiwala from Islamabad became an internet sensation. A picture of Arshad Khan taken by a local amateur photographer Jiya Ali went viral on Facebook and Twitter, and Khan became an overnight sensation in Pakistan and India. He appeared on numerous morning shows and received a modelling contract.

The Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his youth, worked as a chaiwala for his father . He occasionally used to serve tea to the customers of his father's tea-stall outside the Vadnagar railway station. During the 2014 Indian general election, Modi hosted a series of "chai pe charcha" ("discussion over tea") events at tea stalls across India, highlighting his humble background in stark contrast to the dynastic politics of the opposition.

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Wikipedia