Chai Walli

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Magical Cuppa From Uppma

An Indian-Australian lawyer turned entrepreneur, who crafted a delightful cuppa, was featured in Forbes 30 Under 30 - Asia in 2017. Uppma Virdi has won a slew of top awards for her unique brand of tea, Chai Walli. A report.

Uppma Virdi, the founder of Chai Walli, an Australian-based business that has been promoting the Indian tea culture, with signature Ayurvedic ingredients. She was a lawyer by profession, but she has been a tea enthusiast by choice ever since she learnt the importance of Ayurveda from her grandfather, an Ayurvedic practitioner in India. Chai Walli blends several Ayurvedic spices in its brand of chai. She was the winner of Best Chai Award at the Royal Hobart Fine Food Awards in 2017 and was the finalist at the Best Health Food and Beverage Awards. Uppma was also featured in Forbes 30 Under 30 - Asia 2017.

Born in Chandigarh, India, in 1990, Uppma was raised in Melbourne where her family moved when she was an infant. She has a Bachelor's degree in Law and Commerce from Deakin University, and a Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice from The College of Law. During her student years, she worked actively as a customer sales representative and a seasonal clerk. She also worked as a paralegal towards workers compensation, besides completing her secondment with Toyota Motors in Australia.  

Unleashing Creativity 

Being raised in a family that is steeped in a culture of rich Indian traditional food, spices and dances, Uppma was more inclined towards cultural and creative values than seeking a successful career as a lawyer. Despite the first generation challenges migrants face, she wished to express herself in a creative way. The more she learnt about herself, the more questions came to her mind as to what would it mean to be an empowered woman, and how could she embrace both cultures creatively. She didn't wish to be controlled by the concept of an arranged marriage, or let herself be intimidated by thoughts of limitations as a migrant. She wished to unleash her creativity in a way that brought her joy. And she was inspired to put her grandfather's Ayurvedic teachings into practice and share his medicinal tea blends under the business name, Chai Walli. 

With no initial support from her family, Uppma embarked on her business journey independently while maintaining her full-time role as a lawyer. With sheer dedication and hardwork, she experimented with her Ayurvedic knowledge to brew a different type of tea, which she hoped would set the ball rolling for her unique brand, Chai Walli. What she started as a side hustle, Chai Walli, began catching up among tea lovers. She reached a point where she had to choose between law and her cherished calling. Eventually, she decided to follow her passion, though with the fear of an unknown future. 

Working as a lawyer by day, and by night and weekends blending chai with a pestle, Uppma would go to markets with special Masala Chai freshly made for people who loved tea. And she created awareness among people about Ayurveda and Indian culture built around tea and other aspects of the subcontinent. She introduced the culture of tea along with the heritage of India. Australia awarded her the Indian Business and Community award in 2016. She was considered the Best Woman Entrepreneur and Businesswoman of the Year in 2016. When her passion turned to goal and goal turned to success, there was no looking back for her. Her family members who were sceptical at first later gave her encouragement and support when she received praises and accolades. 

Unique Blend

According to Uppma, her uniquely blended tea has many facets to it. And the reason for it being different is that she is not selling a bag of tea but a special brand of tea from a mass manufactured farm. She personally goes to India and visits tea plantations to ensure that the tea she buys is organic and is based on fair trade practices. Basically, she has a good knowledge of tea farming and its processing. India has dozens of different types of tea. She meets some tea vendors who sell tea on the streets, and inquires about tea preparations, and some of the ingredients they add to make a 'special chai.' She travels to different towns creating connections, so that she can bring the ideas  back to Australia, and share them with the rest of the world. 

After talking to local tea vendors in India, Uppma creates a Hashtag on Instagram called Humans of Chai, where she actually spends time trying to understand where the chai actually originates from and why people drink it. This, according to her, helps learn stories about these tea sellers and also about the place of its origin, so that her company can acquire the expertise in the field. 

Chai Walli, among other awards, has won the third place in the World Tea Brewers Championship. Her team had to make different tests where it had to serve tea by keeping in mind how it's served. And in one of the signature drinks she used a smoking gun to literally smoke chai, and the smoke smelt like chai. She presented the tea in a terra-cotta cup by camouflaging it in the smoke, so that when you drink the chai you get the smokiness texture. 

Chai Walli won the Gold Winners at the 2019 Australian International Tea Expo Golden Leaf awards. It was recognised as a finalist in the 2020 Small Business Championships Awards. Also, it won Micro-Business of the Year at the 2021 India Australia Business & Community Awards.

After winning dozens of awards, Uppma doesn't wish to rest on her laurels. She consistently makes efforts to improve her products and present the best cuppa to the world. 

(Photo: Courtesy Chai Walli)

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