Vishnu Tea Company

Fancy Bazar is a hectic place to work, but we’ve been on M S Road for quite some time. The tea business means there is always a scent of dried leaves in the air around the shop. We get large sacks of tea delivered, and it takes up most of the room. It’s not a quiet office; you can always hear the rickshaws and the people haggling outside. We spend a lot of time sorting through different grades of tea and putting them into smaller packets for the customers. Our shelves are mostly full of wooden crates and tin containers. Sometimes the humidity in Guwahati makes the work feel a bit slower, but the tea has to be handled carefully so it stays dry. We don’t have fancy signs or a big reception area. Usually, there’s just a wooden counter where people stand and talk to us. We’ve seen the bazar change a lot, but our little corner stays pretty much the same. It’s mostly about knowing which tea came from which garden and making sure the weights are correct. Lunch is usually eaten quickly between customers. We don't really have a set schedule for breaks. When someone walks in, we stop whatever we’re doing and help them out. It’s a basic way of doing things, but it works for us here. The street is always loud, but you stop noticing the noise after a few hours of work. We just pack the bags and keep going until it's time to close.