‘Didn’t know who he was’, says ‘Dolly Chaiwalla’ on viral video with Bill Gates

PTI, Mar 1, 2024, 8:43 AM IST

Nagpur: Nagpur resident Sunil Patil, popularly known as ‘Dolly Chaiwalla’, whose video with Microsoft founder Bill Gates went viral, on Thursday said he did not recognise the billionaire businessman initially and came to know who he was only after their meeting took the Internet by storm.

Gates, who is visiting India, on Wednesday shared a video on Instagram with Patil, a popular tea seller in Nagpur, and praised India’s innovation culture. The video was shot in Hyderabad.

“In India, you can find innovation everywhere you turn, even in preparation of a simple cup of tea,” the tech titan and philanthropist said in a post shared along with the video.

 

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A post shared by Bill Gates (@thisisbillgates)

Talking to the media at his roadside tea stall near the old VCA stadium in the Sadar area, Patil said he was not aware who the gentleman (Gates) in the video was and just made tea for ‘a person from abroad’.

‘Only the next day when I returned to Nagpur (from Hyderabad) that I realised to whom I had served the tea,’ he said, adding Gates liked the aromatic beverage prepared by him.

Patil informed he was not aware that he was being taken to Hyderabad for a shoot with the legendary American entrepreneur.

Dolly Chaiwalla expressed his wish to one day serve tea to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.