A Chaiwala / ChaiWalah / ChaiWallah is a person who prepares, sells or serves tea on streets or small roadside shops in the Indian subcontinent. They are an integral part of Indian tea culture. Chai is the Hindustani word for "tea", as in masala chai, and wallah indicates the person performing the task, so chaiwallah is a street seller of tea. Chaiwallahs, as an entrepreneurial group, tend to move from different regions of India to run their small business in major cities. They boil a mixture of water and milk, often with spices or a spice mixture called Chai masala, add tea leaves and sugar and then strain the tea into containers or a tea kettle. They usually serve tea in a small glasses or unglazed clay teacups but, in the modern era, they have started to serve tea in plastic cups. Traditionally, tea was made in brass vessels. The hygienic safety of tea prepared in this manner is disputed.
In popular culture
In the 1955 filmShri 420, the hero brings the heroine to a road-side tea stall. The Chai Wallah insists on receiving a payment of two annas for the two cups. The scene serves as a prelude for the famous song "Pyar Hua Ikrar Hua", during which the chai wallah is shown sipping the tea from a saucer. In the 2009 drama Slumdog Millionaire, the lead character, Jamal Malik, is a chai wallah in an Indian call center.
Notable examples
The press noted several successful chai wallahs as examples of humble people who are capable of rising. They include:
Arshad Khan is a former chaiwalla who became a model and singer.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated that in his youth he worked as a chaiwallah for his father, and used to serve tea to the customers of his father's tea-stall outside the Vadnagar railway station. In 2015, an RTI query was filed asking "whether there was any record, registration number or official pass issued to Modi allowing or entitling him to sell tea on trains and at stations". The Indian government responded that no such information is available.
Navnath Yewle of Pune, who makes a living running a tea house.
