Laxmi Tea Co

Our place, Laxmi Tea Co, is tucked away in Dholi Bavdi on Cement Gali. It’s a narrow lane and if a rickshaw stops in front of the door, nobody else can pass through. The shop is basically one long room filled with tea sacks from floor to ceiling. We don't have much space to move around, so we have to be organized about where we put the different grades of leaf. It’s often dark inside because the buildings are so close together, so we keep the overhead light on all day. My uncle started this place and not much has changed since then. We still use the same heavy iron keys for the locks and the same old wooden stools that creak when you sit down. The tea itself is the main thing here. We spend a lot of time just checking the smell and the feel of the leaves. People from the neighborhood come in with their own containers and we fill them up. It’s a very simple way of doing things. Sometimes the tea dust makes us sneeze, especially when we are moving the bags around at the back. We don't do any advertising or anything like that. People just know we are here in the Gali. It’s a quiet existence for the most part, except for the occasional argument between drivers outside. We just keep our heads down and handle the tea.