An April Fool or a Forever Fool? Neither perhaps!
Whatever that may be, today is also Easter Monday even as US President Joe Biden put some spokes in his poll campaign by declaring that Easter Sunday will be observed as Transgender Day! Christians may have a point in calling it a blasphemous move! This is akin to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi declaring December 25 as Good Governance Day a few years ago. It became a working day as the Government was seeking to remove the holiday for Christmas. Given that his goal is to make India a theocratic Hindu country, it fit his political agenda.
That aside, as it is election time in India, I am reminded of my recent meeting in London with a friend and former colleague at Cisco, Mukesh.
I was on my way to Washington DC with a 11-hour layover at Heathrow that I put to good use, catching up with him! He picked me up at the airport and took me to an area in Hounslow where there were some good restaurants.
The Chaiiwala caught my attention and I instantly decided that we should go for it. He agreed with my choice. We were not wrong as the food was very much to my liking. It serves meat-based food, so Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not like it.
I had roti with mutton keema and mogo chips, skipping chai (not on purpose, just did not want to waste money on a drink)!
The name reminds us of him as his critics during his 2014 poll campaign, in particular, referred to him as “chaiwala” as he had himself pointed to his early days of selling tea.
If his detractors used the expression derisively that turned out to be a fatal mistake as he used it to his advantage by highlighting his humble beginnings!
The Chaiiwala is said to have had its origins in Delhi, with 1927 being its launch year. However, the first Chaiiwala store in the U. K. opened only in 2015, just a year after Mr Modi became the Prime Minister of India.
Good business sense and timing? Perhaps! It now has 90 stores in the U.K. and has expanded to a few countries such as Canada and Dubai.
Interestingly, the U.K. chain has Muslim owners! The staff at the branch we visited were also Muslims, including the restaurant manager I spoke to. Just as the food, the service was also good!
Politics and business aside, Mukesh and I had little room for Cisco nostalgia.
While pleasant memories linger and are always wonderful for recollection, the only positive consequence of any past revelry is stress busting!
Now on to the future – will Mr Modi make it three in a row at the hustings? All indications point to it! Am I worried? Nah!
#aprilfool #modi #biden #indianelection
G Joslin Vethakumar
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