“It’s a little strong,” says R Saroja, sipping the tea brewed by Uppma Virdi. “But I like it,” she adds, a smile lighting up her wizened face. The pop-up tea stall at Mylapore’s Mada Street put up by the Australian Consulate-General as part of the International Women’s Day celebrations is abuzz — several women from the neighbourhood turn up to try out Virdi’s tea. R Mallika, who runs a banana leaves stall nearby, R Kavitha, who sells tender coconuts... they sit sipping tea on plastic chairs, taking a break from work. Tea brings them together and Virdi grins as she pours cups of her company Chai Walli’s 11-spice tea.
Born in Chandigarh, the 28-year-old was raised in Melbourne, Australia. A practising lawyer until a year ago, Virdi runs Chai Walli, a Melbourne-based tea business that offers 20 varieties of tea blends. “Tea is a big part of Indian culture and forms a big part of who I am,” says Virdi. She wanted to share this with the world — as an Indian-Australian, Virdi did that by dipping into her family’s traditional knowledge.
Her grandfather Preetham Singh is the inspiration behind Virdi’s tea business. “He could speak six different languages, was a Sufi poet, a homoeopath, and an expert in Ayurveda,” recalls Virdi. She grew up listening to stories about him. The medicine man in the town of Nakodar in Punjab, Singh became famous for his Ayurvedic teas. It’s these teas that Virdi has recreated. She started off by creating blends for friends at home about four years ago. Balancing a full-time job as a lawyer, Virdi would source spices locally to work on Ayurvedic and organic teas. “Before I knew it, I was working seven days a week,” she says.
She decided to pursue her tea business full-time, and today, Virdi sells her blends across the world through her online portal. “I import tea from family-owned businesses in Assam and Ooty,” explains Virdi. Tea is such a big part of her life that Virdi goes in search of tea-related stories wherever she travels. She remembers being fascinated by the mammoth pots of tea at Golden Temple, Amritsar. “Eight pots of tea, of 300 litres each, are brewed every day,” she says.
Then there are the tea makers she interacts with on a regular basis. “I document them as ‘Humans of Chai’ on social media,” she explains. Virdi recounts the story of a tea maker from Bihar she met in Chandigarh. “He told me that he’s providing education to four of his children by selling tea,” she says. “The man has been making tea at this small stall on the road for 15 years.” She was fascinated by how the small tea shop was the backbone of the family. Tea can sometimes change lives.