Tea Junction

We’ve been here at Bhupalpura for a while now, right near Khara Kuan. It’s a busy spot on 100 Feet Road, so things never really stay quiet for long. Most mornings start with us dragging the chairs out and getting the big pots of tea going before the first lot of people show up on their way to work. It’s just how it is. Sometimes the stove acts up or we run out of small change early, but we manage. People come in, sit for a bit, talk about whatever is going on in the neighborhood, and then move on. It’s not a fancy place by any means. The walls could probably use a fresh coat of paint if we ever found the time, but the tea stays the same. We spend a lot of our day just washing glasses and making sure there’s enough milk in the fridge. On hot days, the fan doesn't do much, but nobody seems to mind much. We see the same faces every day, from the shopkeepers nearby to the kids from the houses behind us. It’s a lot of work, honestly. My hands are usually stained from the tea leaves by the afternoon. We don’t do anything special, just keep the place open and keep the kettle hot. It gets dusty because of the road traffic, so we’re always wiping down the tables. That’s pretty much our whole day here at the junction.