‘One of my favourite photos’: Bear Grylls shares chai with PM Modi picture

Survival expert Edward Michael Grylls popularly known as Bear Grylls took to his Twitter page on Friday posting a photograph from a special moment he shared with the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during one of his wild adventures in India.

In Man Vs Wild episode aired in August back in 2019 on Discovery Channel, Grylls along with PM Modi explored the wilderness of Uttarakhand’s Jim Corbett National Park to shed light on the importance of conservation of wildlife and nature, among other things.

“One of my favourite photos: soaking wet and sharing a cup of tea with Prime Minister Modi after our @Discovery jungle adventure together,” Grylls wrote before adding, “This moment reminds me of how the wild is the ultimate leveller. We are all the same behind the titles and masks. #adventureunitesus.”

The much-anticipated episode featuring the Indian PM was laced with Modi’s life anecdotes, including one where he lived in the Himalayas as a young man, the one-hour-long adventure was complete with challenges nevertheless.

One of the main tasks of the episode that involved the two crossing the freezing river in the pouring Corbett saw Grylls do the usual as he goes about devising a makeshift raft by using anything and everything in sight.

As the duo successfully crossed the river, Grylls fittingly offered Modi a flask consisting “chai” — warm water infused with neem leaf.

“You know the neem leaf? That lovely smell,” Grylls asked. “Sweet neem, sweet neem,” PM promptly responded.

“Yes. Which is also very good for the parasites inside,” Grylls responded.

Modi then chimed in and explained how sweet neem was an essential part of Indian households. “In India, we are famous for curry. In Indian curry, this is a permanent requirement,” Modi informed Grylls.

And as soon as the episode aired, one of the top-googled searches in India was none other than “sweet neem”.