Vajpayee's thandai

Everyone has his own favourite story about Atal Bihari Vajpayee. But the sweetest is one related to his friend Ram Mohan Singh, who was a student with him at the D A V College, Kanpur. Vajpayee used to make delicious 'thandai' (a cold drink drunk all over Uttar Pradesh during the hottest months of May and June, occasionally containing hemp leaves or bhaang) and grind all the ingredients himself on a grinding stone. Once the friends went for a walk and found a little cloth bundle, which had Rs 27 in it. The two friends looked far and wide to return the money but could not find a claimant. Finally, they went to the market, bought the ingredients for 'thandai' and Vajpayee spent an hour on the 'sil batta' (grinding stone) to make delicious thandai for the entire hostel. The students were awake till 1 am, drinking it and listening to Vajpayee recite his poetry.