Gopal Tea Shop

Gopal Tea Shop sits right by the New Bus Stand on Sumerpur Road. It’s a busy spot, especially in the early morning when the first buses start rolling in. The tea kettle is almost never empty. We keep it bubbling away on the burner, and the steam makes the walls a bit damp over time. We have some old wooden benches where people sit and wait, staring out at the traffic. The tea we make is just simple, with plenty of ginger and sugar, the way most people around here like it. We go through so many glass cups in a day that someone is always in the back washing them in a big plastic tub. The cloth we use to wipe the tables gets stained dark brown pretty fast. It’s not the cleanest or the most modern place, but it’s a spot where you can sit for a few minutes without anyone bothering you. We hear a lot of stories from the travelers, though we usually just nod and keep pouring the milk. The smell of burning coal or gas is always there in the air. We don’t have a fancy menu board, just a few things we know how to make well. It’s a loud, busy place, but it’s ours. We spend a lot of time just keeping the area around the stove clear. Sometimes the rain blows in from the open side and we have to move things.