"Masala Chai": Paytm Founder's Reply To What India Is Known For

Paytm founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma thinks India is known for its “masala chai”. Replying to a tweet by Uber Facts asking people to identify their country by the one thing it is known for, the entrepreneur said, “One masala chai, please”. 

“Without saying your country's name, what's your country known for?” read the tweet by Uber Facts.

One Masala Chai pls ☕️ https://t.co/E1Jme7Y9fZ

— Vijay Shekhar Sharma (@vijayshekhar) May 19, 2022

Mr Sharma's tweet has garnered a lot of attention on the social media platform. The appreciation post for masala chai comes days before International Tea Day. It is celebrated on May 21 across the globe.

Most of them recalled their “PayTM” Karo moment.  

PayTM karo

— Naval Chopra (@NavalChopraX) May 19, 2022

One user referred to the popular phrase a seller would use to ask the customer to make the payment digitally. “Bhaiya Paytm Kardena,” it read.

"Bhaiya Paytm Krdena"

— Divye Agarwal (@Divyetweets) May 19, 2022

Meanwhile, a person didn't agree with Vijay Shekhar Sharma's “masala chai” thought. He thinks its the “filter coffee” that defines India.

Naah! Filter coffee.

— Venkatesh Iyer (@atvenkateshiyer) May 19, 2022

Another said that it's the “Parle-G” biscuit.

With parle g

— abhay singh (@abhaysingh_2005) May 19, 2022

Coming back to Paytm, its e-commerce arm Paytm Mall is planning to jump into the online retail segment by pivoting to the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), a government developed UPI-like platform.  The ONDC initiative seeks to democratise the purchase and sale of goods in the Indian market. 

Recently, Chinese billionaire Jack Ma-backed Alibaba and Ant Financials offloaded their entire 43.22 per cent stake in Paytm Mall for just Rs 42 crore. The deal valued the company at just ₹ 100 crore. That was a huge climbdown for Paytm Mall since its last fundraising in 2020, when it was valued at $3 billion (Rs 21,000 crore). In 2017, Paytm had raised $200 million (Rs 1,551 crore at current rate) from Alibaba.