Indian Prime Minister's tea stall to be a tourist attraction
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Indian Prime Minister's tea stall to be a tourist attraction

Enjoy the strong aromatic masala tea from the Prime Minister of India generously flavoured with spices (masala) and sugar - what can be more tempting for keen travelers from abroad and patriotic Indian travelers! The Gujarat state authorities in Western India are quite sure of this, and they energetically have taken up the development of a tour in the provincial town of Vadnagar, the birthplace of Narendra Modi, the present Prime Minister of India.

It was here that Narendra Modi was born and spent his youth in a poor family, and he became a style icon for the whole country and the most active and popular political figure on social media. During the campaign in 2014, Modi often mentioned his ‘low start’ - his career that began at the Vadnagar railway station where in the mid-60s, his father kept a small tea stall. Often he asked his smart son to sell flavored and invigorating tea, and his son was quick to succeed in this business and attracted much more clients than his father did.

Моди в молодости


It is now that the Prime Minister can afford to sport a suit where thin gold curls on a blue background form his name. Earlier, a skillful boy had to stand for hours at a gas burner boiling and pouring tea for a couple of rupees to poor Indian workers waiting for their train.

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The people’s Prime Minister is proud of such an experience in his biography, and at every opportunity, he is pleased to remind others of his journey ‘from worst to first’, which, of course, required extraordinary abilities, luck and hard work every day. He brilliantly used this fact in the popular publicity programme of the party of power where prominent foreign leaders, as honored guests, including the former US President Barack Obama, talked with Modi ‘at the tea-table’.

Having left his native land, Modi did not forget about his town with a population of about 25,000 people that after the transfer of the railway routes began to run down fast. To breathe life into it, an advertising idea was required, a strong-willed decision at the government level, and over 1 bn rupees of investments (almost $15 mn).

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The Minister of Railways, Manoj Sinha, announced that a tourist route would be created along the memorials of the Prime Minister’s childhood and youth, and the lion's share of the funds, as much as 800 mn rupees ($12 mn), allocated for the development of Vadnagar and the surrounding areas was intended for the modernization of the memorial railway station. According to the head of the Ahmedabad railway department Dinesh Kumar, it is planned that the small railway station will turn into the pearl of the tour dedicated to Modi who ‘has taken off’ from the bottom the political Olympus to its top.

The first steps have already been taken - new benches have been installed, the fence has been painted and garbage accumulated for decades has even been swept out from under a small platform designed for three cars only. It seems that everything is ready to receive the first tourists - but tough luck: the legendary tea stall has been idle for a long time due to a decrease in passenger flow and low profitability and lonely stands there with the windows nailed up.

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism of India immediately came to help and decided to restore the Modi’s former ‘family business’. It is noteworthy that to save the prime minister of the largest democracy in the world, as India is also called, from the slander and libel of envious and ill-wishers, the officials emphasized that not a single rupee from the treasury would be spent on doing this good deed.

The head of the department, Mahesh Sharma, says that the small tea stall will retain its original attraction, despite the fact that it will be given a modern touch. However, they do not plan to start any improvements at the expense of the state funds.

Opponents and wits in the Indian press are already widely discussing how this potential tourist spot - now just a rundown stall on the railway platform - will not only be brought to the proper condition, but will also be able to attract customers. According to the tea business experts, in order to improve things, put things in order and organize the process, the owner of a tea stall will have to sell his invigorating tea at a 50- time higher price than at ordinary tea houses. This, however, is not so expensive by Russian standards (100 rupees equal approximately 85 rubles). The masala tea will be sold under the Narendra Modi brand, which, as you know, increases the price greatly and draws attention to the tea.

Those who hardly dream of spending their well-deserved vacation in the interior of Indian, away from the sea and famous Ayurvedic resorts, will, probably, be interested in a recipe for traditional masala tea, which can be easily prepared in your own kitchen.

To do this, you need a glass of whole milk, inexpensive Indian granulated tea, giving a strong bright tea in some minutes, and a teaspoon of the masala tea, a blend of spices. If the masala tea is not at hand, such a ‘bouquet’ for tea can be prepared on your own. Pour a little water into a cooking pot, bring it to the boil, pour milk on top. This is done so that the milk does not burn at the bottom.

Then, we throw a stick of cinnamon into the boiling milk, as well as 4-5 crushed green cardamoms, a few slices of fresh ginger, a couple of cloves, a few peas of black pepper. When the foam rises a couple of times, remove the pot.

At the same time, it is advisable to brew a litre of black strong tea - while you are preparing milk with the oriental flavour, the tea will have time to brew. And then, simply pour flavoured milk into a large vessel and strain tea through a fine sieve there and bring this masala tea to the boil.

Well, an invigorating drink, a trucker's dream, is ready. One should drink in small glasses, unless you have a long way to go or hard work. And, of course, every real Indian will enjoy adding much sugar into this tea. The Europeans keen on tea can enjoy something sweet or just appreciate a real ancient tea magic.

# India
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