Radhika Tea Company

Radhika Tea Company is tucked away in Bhopal Ganj, right inside Singhvi Bhavan at Plot No.105. Being in Bazar No. II means it’s always loud outside. You can hear the vegetable sellers and the motorbikes zooming past all day long. Inside our space, it’s a different story. It’s mostly rows of bins and bags filled with different blends. We spend a lot of time tasting and mixing. It’s not like those fancy shops in the mall. Here, the floor is concrete and the shelves are just plain wood we put up ourselves. We’ve got a small stove in the corner where we’re always boiling water. My cousin helps out with the books, and we have two guys who handle the heavy lifting. Sometimes we disagree about which blend is better, but we usually figure it out over lunch. The light in the shop isn't great, but we know these bags by feel mostly. Customers come in and out, some wanting just a small packet and others looking for a whole sack to take back to their own villages. We don't do much advertising; people just know we're here because we've been in the same spot for years. If the rain is heavy, the street outside floods a bit, and we have to move everything to the higher shelves. It’s just part of being in the bazar. We keep going regardless of the weather or the noise.