Skip links

Skip to Content
play

Live

Navigation menu

  • News
    • Middle East
    • Africa
    • Asia
    • US & Canada
    • Latin America
    • Europe
    • Asia Pacific
  • Ukraine war
  • Features
  • Economy
  • Opinion
  • Video
    • Coronavirus
    • Climate Crisis
    • Investigations
    • Interactives
    • In Pictures
    • Science & Technology
    • Sports
    • Podcasts
play

Live

In Pictures

Gallery|Poverty and Development

The chai walas of India

After photographs of a Pakistani tea seller went viral, Indian tea sellers share their stories – and their dreams.

Indian Chai wala [Showkat Shafi/ Al Jazeera]
"Yeh naseeb hai uss chai waalay ka (this is his fate and he is lucky)," says 24-year-old tea seller Feroz Aalam of Arshad Khan, the Pakistani tea seller who recently became famous after a photo of him went viral. "I also used to dream of owning a big car and a bungalow but here I am preparing chai for the customers. I still have a long life ahead. It is very tough to sit at the tea stall, especially in the summer, and brew chai in front of a stove. I hardly earn or save anything but then being a chai wala (tea seller) is what I have accepted." [Showkat Shafi/Al Jazeera]
By Showkat Shafi
Published On 28 Oct 201628 Oct 2016
facebooktwitterwhatsapp

Delhi, India – Chai, or tea, the national obsession of both India and Pakistan, was trending last week, thanks to a blue-eyed chai wala, or tea seller. After photographs of Arshad Khan from Islamabad in Pakistan went viral, tea sellers became as hot as the brew they sell.

It now looks as though Khan, who has since landed modelling contracts, will be bidding goodbye to his profession. But many tea sellers are not as fortunate. 

In India, where chai is sold on the street for as little as five to 10 Indian rupees ($0.075 to $0.150), tea sellers usually start their day at 5am, catering to the daily wage labourers and rickshaw pullers making their way to work.

Most of those in the Indian capital, Delhi, have migrated there from smaller cities and villages with dreams of making a decent living. They spend their days, whether in the heat of summer or the cold of winter, at their stalls. 

But while they may sell hundreds of cups in a day, the ingredients – black tea, milk, ginger and cardamom – are expensive and most tea sellers live in poverty.

Some of them shared their stories with Al Jazeera’s Showkat Shafi.

Indian Chai wala [Showkat Shafi/ Al Jazeera]
Kishan Lal, 62, says: "I have been selling chai for the past four decades at the same spot. I have seen this city change in front of my eyes. I have seen the fate of my regular customers change. From owning nothing, they own a house, car and everything. I am still at the same place. I am a poor man and I serve to the poor." [Showkat Shafi/Al Jazeera]
Advertisement
Indian Chai wala [Showkat Shafi/ Al Jazeera]
Bachu, 65, says: "I came from Bihar [a state in the east of India] some 45 years ago. Wanted to be a government officer but I wasn't qualified. I started working in a tea stall. Now I have my own chai place but how much can you earn by selling tea for six Indian rupees? My clientele is mostly labourers and beggars who can just afford a cup of chai with a biscuit for a day's meal. I am old and now I am not able to sit through the day, so I close early and this has also affected my earnings." [Showkat Shafi/Al Jazeera]
Indian Chai wala [Showkat Shafi/ Al Jazeera]
Surinder Shah, 34, says: "It's been 20 years that I have been selling tea at this same spot. I had dreams as a child to make it big, but destiny has some other plans. Now I dream for my children and my dream is that my children should never ever sell tea like me. I hope I can one day own a proper tea shop." [Showkat Shafi/Al Jazeera]
Indian Chai wala [Showkat Shafi/ Al Jazeera]
Ram Babu, 28, says: "I was a seven or eight-year-old kid when I used to work here with my grandfather. But now my grandfather is very old and I have taken over this place. The only day I take off is on a Sunday, that too after sitting at the tea stall for more than 12 hours every day. I am from a poor family and poor people don't have dreams. We poor can only dream for two  meals a day. I haven't ever had a dream beyond this. My only hope is my children and I send them to school. I am uneducated but I want them to have a bright future and not struggle every day to just source two meals for the family." [Showkat Shafi/Al Jazeera]
Indian Chai wala [Showkat Shafi/ Al Jazeera]
Kaladar Sharma, 55, says: "I came to India from Nepal when I was 15. I used to work in a hotel and a few years later, I managed to open my tea stall. This has been mine for the past 24 years and every day I serve tea to around 300 people. My stall runs from 8am to 8pm. Since it's a roadside tea stall, all kinds of people come here. I believe my tea stall is one place where status and class disappear. A rich and poor man both sit together to have a cup of chai. This makes me happy." [Showkat Shafi/Al Jazeera]
Indian Chai wala [Showkat Shafi/ Al Jazeera]
Vijay Yadav, 25, says: "I was 10 when I came from Bihar [a state in the east of India] to work with my neighbour as he was running this tea stall. I worked with him for many years and now I run this tea stall. It might not seem like an achievement to many but I had nothing and for me this is one dream come true. My next dream is to own a restaurant and I also want to be famous like this chai wala [tea seller] in Pakistan and see my photograph in the newspaper." [Showkat Shafi/Al Jazeera]
Advertisement
Indian Chai wala [Showkat Shafi/ Al Jazeera]
Mohammad Sabir, 42, says: "I have been selling tea for the last 20 years. I am happy with my life. God has planned this for me and I have accepted it with a happy heart. There are millions of people who beg and sleep without food. I give good food to my family, my children go to school. What else do I need in life?" [Showkat Shafi/Al Jazeera]
Indian Chai wala [Showkat Shafi/ Al Jazeera]
Naresh Kumar, 28, says: "When I was kid I used to dream of a nice house, a wife and children, but I am still unmarried. I don't know when my time will come. Selling tea is a compulsion, otherwise else I would have no food to eat." [Showkat Shafi/Al Jazeera]


    • About Us
    • Code of Ethics
    • Terms and Conditions
    • EU/EEA Regulatory Notice
    • Privacy Policy
    • Cookie Policy
    • Cookie Preferences
    • Sitemap
    • Community Guidelines
    • Work for us
    • HR Quality
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise with us
    • Apps
    • Channel Finder
    • TV Schedule
    • Podcasts
    • Submit a Tip
    • Al Jazeera Arabic
    • Al Jazeera English
    • Al Jazeera Investigative Unit
    • Al Jazeera Mubasher
    • Al Jazeera Documentary
    • Al Jazeera Balkans
    • AJ+
    • Al Jazeera Centre for Studies
    • Al Jazeera Media Institute
    • Learn Arabic
    • Al Jazeera Centre for Public Liberties & Human Rights
    • Al Jazeera Forum
    • Al Jazeera Hotel Partners

Follow Al Jazeera English:

  • rss
  • instagram-colored-outline
  • youtube
  • twitter
  • facebook
Al Jazeera Media Network logo
© 2022 Al Jazeera Media Network