Vardhman Tea Centre

Bazar No. 3 in Bhopalganj is where you’ll find our little tea center. It’s right in the middle of the market, so there’s always something happening right outside the door. We open up early when the air is still a bit cool and the other shops are just starting to pull up their shutters. Our space is filled with the smell of different teas, and we have sacks piled up in the corners. It’s a bit of a tight squeeze sometimes, especially when a few customers are inside at once. We don’t use any big fancy machines, just a simple scale and some scoops. We spend most of our time chatting with people about what kind of brew they like or how the weather is affecting the latest crops. It’s a bit dusty, and the floor gets some tea dust on it no matter how much we sweep, but that’s just how a tea shop is. We’ve been here long enough that we know most of the people who walk past. We don't have a website or anything like that; we just rely on people knowing we’re here in the bazaar. It’s a practical way to live. We handle the tea, we talk to the neighbors, and we go home when the sun goes down. It’s not complicated, and we like it that way. We just keep the bags full and the scale balanced every day.