C S Patel Tea

Our tea business, C S Patel Tea, sits right on the Padra Main Road. We are directly opposite the Trikamji Temple, which is a very busy spot especially in the mornings when people come for prayers. You can usually smell the tea leaves from the street before you even step inside. We spend our days weighing out bags and talking to customers who have been buying from us for a long time. The shop isn't anything fancy; it’s mostly just shelves and sacks of tea piled up. Padra is a lively area, and being on the main road means there is never a dull moment with all the buses and rickshaws going past. We have to keep the floor swept constantly because of all the dust that blows in from the road. Some days are busier than others, especially when a new shipment comes in and we have to move all the heavy bags around. We don't use any high-tech systems here, just a simple scale and some paper bags. It’s a family-run kind of feeling, and we know most of the people who stop by. If the temple has a festival, the whole road gets packed, and we just watch the crowds from the doorway. It’s a good place to be, right in the middle of everything, selling something that everyone needs for their morning cup. We just keep things moving and try to stay out of the heat as much as possible while we work.