No political talk, urges Asansol's chaiwallah

ASANSOL: Tea stalls usually don’t just brew chai, they are also synonymous with stimulating discussions and debates on politics. But this tea stall owner in Asansol will have none of it. Politics in the town and elsewhere in the belt, he reckons, is too hot to handle. Pradip Tea Stall in Asansol’s Chitra crossing has hung a notice that reads: “Please don’t talk about politics”.
Given the extremely volatile political situation in Asansol where Trinamool is desperate to wrest the Asansol Lok Sabha seat from BJP’s Babul Supriyo in the forthcoming polls, stall owner Amit Sinha’s wariness on an debate spiralling out of control is understandable.
In Asansol, the general discourse invariably centres around the likely Trinamool candidate to take on Supriyo. It was the same at Pradip tea stall till Sinha decided to put up the notice prohibiting political discussion in the shop.
Like social media, drawing room chats and dinner table talk at clubs and homes, chatter at tea stalls and inside local train compartments have always been a reflection of Bengal’s political pulse.
Sinha said he had no alternative but to take the step after political debates over tea at his shop began turning acrimonious. “At times, the debate threatened to turn into fisticuffs. I did not want any unwanted incidents. So, I put up the notice. Since then, customers have largely avoided political talks. Whenever someone does, I appeal to him to avoid such talk. So far, the response has been positive,” he said.
In business since 1976, Pradip’s cash registers ring from 5pm to 10pm on weekdays.