Slur gives 'tea boy' Narendra Modi boost in run for PM
Narendra Modi's candidacy for prime minister of India was only strengthened when a ruling party MP dismissed him as a 'chai wallah'
India's tea makers are an industrious bunch whose roadside stalls are places of clanking kitchenware, gossip, and scalding hot brews.
Many vendors like Jaiveer Jasiwal, whose grimy family-run stand can be found in the old part of Delhi, dream of bigger things. But few ever thought one of their own might one day rise to be prime minister.
That prospect, in a country still riven by caste and ruled for most of its post-independence history by one dynasty, looks more likely with the rise of opposition leader Narendra Modi.
And thanks to an ill-advised political barb from a ruling party MP who mocked Modi's time as a chai wallah (tea boy), tea stands have been thrust centre stage in a bitter campaign for the national elections due by May.
On Wednesday night, Modi slurped a glass of tea in his home state and took questions about governance. The event was broadcast to tea stands and their working-class clients across the country in 300 cities, including Jasiwal's.
"He [Modi] represents people like us who have small means, but big dreams," said Jasiwal, 28, who also runs what he describes as a one-man business-consultancy firm on the side.