Nanban Tea Shop

I started this little tea stall here on Tiruchendur Main Road a while back. It’s right near Spic Nagar. Most days, we just open up early when the buses start moving and the street gets busy. It’s a lot of work getting the milk delivered and the ginger ready every single morning. People stop here on their way to work or just to sit for five minutes before they go on their way. We keep the benches out front. It’s nothing fancy, just a plain room with some posters on the wall and the sound of the stove going all day. Sometimes it gets a bit crowded around ten in the morning, and the noise from the road makes it hard to hear much of anything. I spend most of my time just watching the traffic go by while I stir the pot and wait for the next person. The floor is concrete and we try to sweep it often, but dust from the main road always finds its way in somehow. It feels like a small part of the neighborhood where you don't have to dress up or act special. You just come in, get what you need, and head out. We’ve got some glass jars of biscuits on the counter too. If the weather is hot, the fan over the corner table makes a bit of a clicking sound, but nobody seems to mind it. It’s just how things are here. We just keep the lights on until late.