Chai'risma goes Viral

She’s in the midst of a special family celebration.  But courteously messages an apology, explaining her inability to converse. And a couple of hours later, this 26-year-old Businesswoman of the Year is ready for a telephonic chat from Down Under. Clearly there is plenty to celebrate in her life. Uppma Virdi, has just won one of Australia’s most prestigious award at the 2016 Indian Australian Business and Community Awards (IABCA) in Sydney and is clearly in a happy space.  

“I was completely shocked, and feel so much gratitude after winning this award. It feels great when people recognise my hardwork. I feel deeply honoured that all of India has responded with so much affection. I have been flooded with requests from the Indian media. There were so many people who felt pride. Some of the messages have made me cry because they are so heartfelt. This is a huge responsibility,” says the young achiever who speaks with a very faint Aussie accent and has a unique name. “It means the ultimate Supreme Being in Sanskrit and is taken from the Guru Granth Sahib. It is not a common name, and no, it is not inspired by the South Indian dish, upma, I get to hear that all the time,” she says with amusement.  

Uppma’s love for chai dates back to her childhood, when her grandfather, an Ayurvedic doctor would prepare, Ayurvedic tea for his patients and the family. “My dadaji hailed from Lahore and wanted to study further. In those days, it was unusual for Punjabis to study. But he was so determined that he mastered several languages like Punjabi, Hindi, Urdu and even Parsi. When his family migrated to Jalandhar, he realised that while they were many allopathic doctors, there were very few Ayurvedic doctors. In fact, no one in his village was doing anything holistic. He wanted to bring natural medicine to his village. So he studied Ayurveda and established his own clinic. He would make different kinds of chai for various ailments like headache, stomach ache. I grew up tasting his tea,” she recollects.

Uppma migrated along with her parents from Chandigarh to Melbourne when she was just a year old. But her connect with India has been strong as she has been visiting her motherland since she was a child. In fact she even did her legal studies at St Xavier’s in Mumbai. “I remember at that time, the attack on Indian cabbies in Australia had happened. I was interviewed in Mumbai, and was asked whether it was safe for Indian students to study in Australia. I personally have not encountered any racism. But yes, when I started working at this 600-person strong legal firm in Australia, I felt I was different because I had an exotic Indian name. However, there was this one instance after 9/11 when my dad who wears a turban was called Osama Bin Ladin by a gora kid,” reminisces Uppma. She is large hearted enough to acknowledge that, “You can’t blame these kids. They have not been imparted the right kind of knowledge. But why just Australia, racism exists in India too. There still is resistance, when people from different communities want to marry each other. In fact, you can’t marry someone who is not a part of your caste. But despite all these cultural differences, if there is one thing that unites Indians, it is chai,” says the chaiwalli from Australia, who admits that her family was appalled when Uppma wanted to give her legal profession a break and enter the tea business. “My family was upset and asked why I went to law school if I wanted to become a chai walli? They just couldn’t understand,” she adds.

A determined Uppma went ahead and set up Chai Walli. “The name sounds derogatory but it does bring out the beauty of the chaiwallah. I see them as entrepreneurs. Besides tea unifies communities and families. At home, your mother makes chai and you sip it as your watch CID or some such show. We drink chai at weddings, at funerals and virtually every single occasion. I believe I’m something so mundane on the world map. I even hold talks with the local Indian community and they are inspired,” she says.

Ask her how she would convert a coffee addict into a chai drinker and she diplomatically points out, “I’m a coffee drinker myself. In fact, I’m a certified brew maker and even have my own commercial coffee machine. They both have their own special place. It’s just that chai brings memories of Saturday mornings when my mother would light the stove and prepare chai,” says the ardent tea lover, who concedes that people are often nervous to prepare tea for her. My staff gets wary when they have to make tea for me. In fact, I’m going to be teaching a staffer to make proper tea as she failed the test last time,” she says with a laugh.     

Uppma has plans of bringing her brand to India and hopes to visit our country next year. “I want to create a hash tag ‘chaiwallah’ and ask people to post pictures of their mum, daughter, sister making chai on insta. There are lots of chaiwallahs but no chaiwallis. So I want to visit Chandigarh, Delhi, Mumbai and do a chai tour. I want to make a coffee table book on chai with authentic imagery of chai so people can sift through beautiful images as they sip their tea,” she adds.

Uppma, though is a woman of many different passions. “I love to dance write poetry. I love travelling as it’s a big part of discovering oneself by exploring the world. My last year has been about chai, now I am trying to find a balance,” she says, fully aware that chai will continue to remain her true love.