Personal Foundation Archives - understand-culture

At the Prime Minister’s Home

In December 2015 Prime Minister Narendra Modi took the Japanese prime minister, Shinzo Abe, to Varanasi, his own constituency. The two leaders attended the Ganga Aarti at Dashashwamedh Ghat. “Our remarkable relationship also has a wonderful human touch,” Modi said.

In October 2018 Abe hosted Modi for a private dinner at his personal villa near Lake Kawaguchi in Yamanashi. It was the first time Abe had invited a foreign political leader to his holiday home, NewsNation reported. Modi tweeted: “Extremely grateful to PM @AbeShinzo for the warm reception at his home. I am truly honoured by this gesture.”

The Chai Break

In a LinkedIn survey of Indian professionals, “72% of workers surveyed said they miss chai break bonding in the workplace,” Business Insider India reported. Social interaction, named by 43 percent, was the top reason for returning to the office.

“More decisions happen informally over tea than in formal board meetings,” R.S. Sodhi, the former managing director of Amul, was quoted by the HR magazine People Matters in 2025.

No Agenda at Wuhan

On April 27 and 28, 2018, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping met in Wuhan for an informal summit. There was no agenda and no joint statement. The two leaders walked along East Lake, rode a houseboat and talked over tea. China’s ambassador to India said they spent nine hours together.

The talks between the delegations “went well beyond the budgeted time,” said India’s Foreign Secretary, Vijay Gokhale.

Food Eaten with Love

In the Udyoga Parva of the Mahabharata, Krishna comes to Hastinapura as the envoy of the Pandavas. Duryodhana invites him to a feast. Krishna declines. “Envoys, O king, eat and accept worship only after the success of their missions,” he says, in the Ganguli translation.

Duryodhana presses him. Krishna answers: “One taketh another’s food when one is in distress. At present, however, O king, thou hast not inspired love in me by any act of thine.” He goes to the house of Vidura and eats there.

The Big Meal

Bada khana, the big meal, is a long-standing custom of the Indian Army and the other armed forces. Officers, soldiers and their families sit down to share a meal. Senior officers are served the first portion. In October 2025, Prime Minister Narendra Modi celebrated Diwali with naval personnel on board the aircraft carrier INS Vikrant and shared a bada khana with them.

Discussion over Tea

On February 12, 2014, Narendra Modi, then the BJP’s candidate for prime minister, launched Chai pe Charcha, “discussion over tea,” at a tea stall in Ahmedabad. About 1,500 people gathered there. The video campaign covered 1,000 tea stalls in 300 cities.

Modi called a tea stall “a footpath Parliament.”