One Cup, Many Lives

In Episode 1, I introduced you to the man behind the kettle at the small chai dhaba outside our society gate. He came to Lahore as a frightened seventeen-year-old with almost nothing, and he has spent nearly thirty years pouring tea for anyone who sits down.

This episode is about the people who sit down.

I spent one long day on his benches, from the first cup at 5 a.m. to the last one near midnight. I drank far too much tea and barely slept that night. But I met a whole city on that bench.

Here’s what one day at a Lahore tea stall looks like.

5:30 a.m. — The Men Who Wait for Work

The sky is still dark blue when the first customers arrive.