Meet the amazingly talented Uppma Virdi, creator and owner of locally made Chai Walli. Her passion for natural healing remedies and appreciation of her Indian heritage is what inspired this lawyer-by-day to create her own authentic chai blend.
In her conversation with Mosiqi Acharya, Uppma shares her journey of becoming a Chaiwalli, her love for Indian tea and how she turned her love for chai into her business.
Uppma migrated to Melbourne with her family 25 years ago. Born in Chandigarh, Punjab, she learnt the art of mixing Chai with Indian spices from her grandfather.
"My dadaji was an Ayurveda practitioner and he used to blend his own chai with Indian spices. I observed and learnt the art from him."
Uppma, an ardent chai lover, carried her chai along with her when she went to study on an exchange program to Austria. On her two months backpacking trip across Europe, she made several friends over a cup of chai.
"They loved the chai and called me Chaiwalli. Even after I returned to Australia, I kept sending them tea packets and that's when I thought of becoming a Chaiwalli."
Trained as a lawyer, Uppma worked in a law firm for years before she became a Chaiwalli full time.
"I currently work with 11 Indian spices. I source my tea leaves from India and Srilanka and then according to the season, I blend my teas. They are definitely seasonal. My teas will cool you down in summers and warm you up in winters," she says.
“My real aim is to educate the Australian society about the Indian culture through tea,” she says.
Chai Walli has a dedicated online store for retail purchase worldwide and it also has a wholesale division to supply the special Indian tea blend to gourmet supermarkets, health food stores, cafes, restaurants, yoga centres etc.
Uppma also runs “The art of Chai” workshops to teach people how to brew the perfect chai.
Uppma won the Business Woman of the Year at the 2016 Indian Australian Business and Community Awards (IABCA) and was named among the ‘aspiring and inspiring’ makers and entrepreneurs in the Forbes 30 under 30 list in 2017.
