Bharama Lingeshwara Tea Stall

We start things quite early here in Krisnarajapuram. The stove gets lit while it is still dark outside because the workers and the early travelers need their first cup before the sun comes up. It’s a small tea stall in the Ghatlodia area, and we don't have much more than a few benches and the counter. The kettle is almost always whistling, and there is a constant cloud of steam from the boiling milk. We keep jars of biscuits and some local snacks on the shelf, though they empty out pretty fast on busy mornings. People tend to gather around the entrance to talk about the news or the weather while they wait for their tea to cool down. It’s a noisy spot with the buses passing by so close, but nobody seems to mind the exhaust or the honking much. We have been standing in this same spot for a long time, watching the neighborhood change around us. The walls could use a bit of paint, and the floor gets muddy when it rains, but the tea stays the same. We don’t have a menu printed out or anything like that. Everyone just knows what we have. It is just a simple place where you can get a hot drink and sit for five minutes before moving on with your day. We know most of the regulars by their faces and how much sugar they like.