Chai Pe Politics — A Steamy Affair That Began In China

Sahil Nagpal April 13, 2024 0

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Picture this — you have slogged 9-10 hours at the office, having raised the temperatures with your boss quite a few times over a project. You long for the comfort of your couch and the distraction from the daily monotony with Netflix. But before that, what you really crave is a hot cup of chai. You walk to a chai ki tapri, or tea stall, outside the office with your colleague and lo behold — you find the star of the latest Netflix series that you had just started watching, who is also a Parliamentarian, bring you the chai. If you are in Bengal and are lucky enough, your bhaar of chaa and a plate of hot momos could be handed to you by none other than the Chief Minister herself.

While alcohol is the staple incentive for a few politicians in rural pockets to woo voters, tea has become the go-to for the bigwigs. Last week, we saw workers of the BJP and the TMC clash in Bengal’s Durgapur at a ‘chai pe charcha‘ event.

The week before, two top politicians tried to woo the masses by making tea at local tapris. One was BJP’s Gorakhpur Lok Sabha MP Ravi Kishan — the star of the latest Netflix offering ‘Mamla Legal Hai’ — and the other was Mamata Banerjee, West Bengal Chief Minister. Mamata didn’t stop at just the tea stall. she went all the way back to the source — the tea gardens of Jalpaiguri — to interact with the plantation workers.

 

And this was not the first time that Mamata Banerjee was seen at a tea stall. In fact, she is regularly seen at tea stalls, serving tea to people. Here are a few instances of the Bengal CM connecting with people at tea stalls.

 

 

And it’s not just these two. Other politicians too, seasoned and newbies alike, have taken refuge in the one drink that connects people of all strata — chai. Union Minister Smriti Irani was seen brewing tea at a party worker’s home in Bastar two days before the Chhattisgarh elections last year, while debutante Kangana Ranaut was seen serving tea to the people of Mandi in Himachal at a “refreshing chai pe charcha session” on April 1 this year.

 


 

The BJP tried to connect with the youth in Maharashtra with a ‘coffee pe charcha‘ event as well. But it seems, there is no substitute for the evergreen chai; the same chai that propelled Sunil Patel, aka ‘Dolly Chaiwala’, from Nagpur to global fame after one meeting with Microsoft founder Bill Gates. The chai brought two nations — India and France — closer at a tea stall in Jaipur as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron sat together sipping the staple beverage of billions.

More recently, PM Modi sought to rekindle his “chaiwallah” connection with the masses in Tamil Nadu’s Coimbatore. During a public meeting, he said: “Mettupalayam has the energy of Coimbatore and the beauty of the Nilgiris. How can a tea seller not have a special relationship with a place famous for Nilgiri Tea?”

 

CM Mamata Banerjee, too, sought to corner the BJP over tea last week. She slammed the Centre at an Alipurduar public meeting, alleging: “They stopped taking tea leaves from about 10 lakh tea garden workers. Our government supported those people and I said, we will take tea leaves from you, we helped 10 lakh labourers.”

 

A Chai Pe Charcha That Brought Modi To Power

Chai is the beverage that brought one government down and installed another. In January 2014, Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar remarked: “In the 21st century, Narendra Modi can’t become a Prime Minister. If he wants, he can come here [Congress meeting] and serve tea. We shall allot him that space,” a jibe directed at Modi, who claimed that he used to sell tea at Gujarat’s Vadnagar Railway Station in his youth.

Following this, the BJP launched its ‘Chai Pe Charcha‘ campaign, which became a smash hit for Narendra Modi, who already had the momentum going to the polls. The result — a historic win for the BJP and a humiliating defeat for the Congress that scraped its lowest-ever Lok Sabha tally.

BJP Win An Uncanny Reminder Of British Victory Over China

The BJP’s historic win over the Congress was reminiscent of the British snatching China’s monopoly over “the liquid jade”. Back in the 17th and 18th centuries, China had an absolute monopoly over tea cultivation and exports. The process of cultivation, production, and processing was a closely guarded secret in China; a secret mandated by law.

On the other hand, tea had become an indispensable part of the British economy, with nearly 10% of the taxes coming from the import and sale of the Oriental beverage. However, the British in the 18th century discovered that cultivating tea was possible in India’s Assam and other parts of the Northeast. They sent Scottish botanist Robert Fortune to China to collect the secrets of tea and return to India. For nearly two decades, Fortune travelled through the mountains and markets of China in the garb of a Chinaman to gather seeds and learn the procedure of growing and processing tea.

An undated photo of workers processing tea in Canton (present-day city of Guangzhou in China).
An undated photo of workers processing tea in Canton (present-day city of Guangzhou in China).

He returned to India with over 1,000 seeds of tea plants, most of which were unusable in Assam. However, his knowledge and the seeds that could be used were enough for the British to end China’s monopoly over tea. By 1900, chaiwallahs became a common sight at every street corner in India.

Thus, the British, with the help of one man, ended China’s monopoly over tea, just as the BJP, with the help of Narendra Modi, broke the Congress’s “monopoly” over power at the Centre. The BJP’s blow was so severe, that the Congress, without which a strong Opposition was impossible at one time, now finds it difficult to take the driver’s seat at the “united Opposition” I.N.D.I.A’s table.

The Political Fluidity Of Chai

Chai is quite fluid (literally) when it comes to politics. At every tapri, one can find a discussion on politics — be it from the office or the government! It’s one drink that unites people over casual discussions and yet has the potential to change one’s outlook.

Realising this, Modi launched his famous 2014 ‘Chai Pe Charcha’ campaign, under which Modi and other BJP leaders would sip tea at over 1,000 stalls in 30 cities and connect with locals.

Tea can turn tables in polls. Congress, which enjoyed the support of India’s tea belt in Assam, lost its hold in the state once the region switched allegiance to the BJP. It is now struggling to regain its foothold in the region even as the Lok Sabha constituencies have been rearranged after the delimitation exercise last year. The BJP has also sought to corner the Mamata Banerjee government over the condition of the tea garden workers, who struggle for even basic amenities,  in Bengal.

The tea has no particular time or preferred taste. It can be bland, sweet, or salty. It can be brewed with spices and used as an ayurvedic healer for cough & cold, or it could be sweetened and chilled to be drunk as a refreshing summer drink. It has several forms and flavours; with the right amount, it can become your favourite drink and heal you. Put in too much, it can leave a bad taste in the mouth and affect your health and sleep — just like our political leaders.



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