Vijayan was more than elated when Communist Party of India (Marxist) Polit Bureau member Brinda Karat walked up to his wayside shop near the Secretariat on a hot, sultry Sunday to have her “korachu strong , panjasara kure” (little strong, more sugar) brand of tea.
He gave extra attention to the order as this was no regular customer. But for Ms. Brinda Karat, a strong cup of tea from a common man’s teashop was part of normal routine, be it in Calcutta or Thiruvananthapuram.
The leader visited the tea-shop after meeting Kudumbasree workers, who are on an indefinite strike in front of the Secretariat.
She found herself a stool near the teashop, while MP T.N. Seema offered her ‘pazhampori’ (banana fry). She took a sip of tea and was quick to ask Mr. Vijayan to add more sugar, saying “thank you bhayya”.
A. Sampath, MP, made his way to the little tea party and offered to pay for the tea. Ms. Karat made sure that all who had gathered with her were offered tea.
The onlookers were only too happy to share a tea with the CPI(M) leader.
Mr. Vijayan too was happy for he could serve 16 teas in 10 minutes, and Ms.Karat had rated his tea ‘very good’.
