Vizag: With bifurcation becoming a reality, tea-sellers in the port city are registering their protest by erasing the name of the capital. Many tea stalls in this port city have put up boards selling ‘Seemandhra Irani Chai’, in place of ‘Hyderabad Irani Chai’ which was the norm prior to the split.
One such tea seller is Venkatesh Rao who has a tea stall in the Four Town area. It was previously called ‘Hyderabad Irani Chai’, which he changed to ‘Seemandhra Irani Chai’ after the President gave assent to the bifurcation Bill.
Mr Rao said, “Hyderabad does not have a monopoly on Irani chai, anyone can make it. Hyderabad was a part of Andhra Pradesh so my tea stall had the name. Now there is no point in continuing with the name.”
The change has done him good, he says. “It was a good idea because, after all, business has increased following the change in name,” Mr Rao said.
He plans to start two or three more such stalls in different areas of the city. Mr Krishna, a regular at the tea stall, was satisfied. “Hyderabad was a part of Andhra Pradesh, but now it is part of Telangana. I am extremely happy that the name has been changed to Seemandhra. Our tea sellers can also make equally good Irani chai.”
