Fashion show focusing on tea and sustainable fashion at the Jaipur Chai Festival
Pink City Jaipur recently celebrated a two-day extravaganza Jaipur Chai Festival dedicated to the magic of tea. Hosted at the Rajasthan International Centre, the Jaipur Chai Festival brought tea lovers, vendors, cafe-owners, start-ups all under one roof celebrating the flavours and aromas of tea. With talk shows, art-exhibition, workshops, chat-sessions highlighting the importance of tea, fashion show depicting its cultural significance, the event had various attractions for one and all. Organised by two young entrepreneurs Mona Sharma and Shashank Verma, it aimed at making the city’s tea drinking experience a unique and innovative one. Shared Mona Sharma, “As we all know, India is the largest tea consumer in the world. It is not just a household beverage but an emotion. Be it a five-star hotel or a roadside kiosk, tea is something that caters to a diverse customer base and is loved by one and all. So we thought of hosting an event to celebrate chai, a simple beverage in a unique way.” Adds Shashank, “This is a first of its kind festival and we are planning to make it an annual affair, adding something new to the city’s cultural calendar.” Relishing variety of tea flavours, music, fun activities, guests had an amazing experience. Day one witnessed Kavi Sammelan ‘Chai Aur Emotion’, bringing famous poets reciting their poems highlighting the cultural significance of tea. Another session ‘Chai Aur Rajneeti’ highlighted how tea fosters community conversations. This was followed by another talk show ‘Cinema and Tea: Flavours of Frames’ where experts talked about the importance of chai in Hindi cinema. Soumya Gurjar, former Jaipur Greater Mayor was the chief guest for the event and DSP Anju Yadav also graced the occasion as a special guest. Adding more to it, day two witnessed interesting sessions with a fashion show. Exploring the business of tea vendors, start-ups and cafe-owners, session ‘Tapri Se Turnover Tak’ talked about start-ups and their success stories. It also focused on how chai has elevated from a street beverage to a trendy cafe. In conversation with Raghu Shree Poddar, experts Mukesh Mathur, Virendra Choudhary, and Kartik discussed more about tea in the session ‘Toxic Se Tonic Tak’. The two-day event was aptly concluded with a fashion show focusing on tea and sustainable fashion. Students of a design institute showcased their creativity with jewellery and accessories created with broken crockery. Young budding designers transformed a simple chai theme into a stunning runway experience.
