Falak Bilal
Srinagar, Oct 15: By the time many households sit down for their morning tea, a workforce across Kashmir has already completed hours of labour. Bakers have prepared fresh bread, milk sellers have started their deliveries and tea vendors have lit their stoves to serve customers beginning their daily routines.
Their work rarely attracts attention, yet the familiar Kashmiri breakfast depends on their early starts, physical effort and ability to deliver on time.
In neighbourhoods across Srinagar, the morning often begins with a visit to the local kandur, where customers collect freshly baked girda, lavasa and other traditional breads. For many families, these breads are an essential accompaniment to noon chai. Behind this everyday routine are bakery workers who begin preparing dough and heating traditional ovens long before the first customers arrive.
Imtiyaz Wani, a young baker from Soura, Srinagar, has described the demanding schedule behind the trade.
“We wake up at 3 am and we run this shop with three people,” he said in a published interview, describing how workers divide responsibilities between preparing dough, managing the tandoor and selling the bread.
The early start leaves little room for delay. Bread must be ready when customers arrive, and the morning rush often determines how much a small bakery earns that day. The work requires experience, physical stamina and careful timing, particularly during busy mornings and festive occasions.
A few streets away, tea vendors prepare for another stream of customers. Drivers, labourers, shopkeepers and office employees frequently stop for a quick cup before continuing their journeys. For some, the roadside stall is not merely a place to buy tea but a familiar meeting point where neighbourhood conversations begin.
Farooq Ahmad, a tea seller near Lal Chowk, has spoken about balancing his work with family responsibilities. He brings his elderly, ailing mother to the stall because she cannot safely remain alone at home.
“My mother can’t stay alone at home as somebody needs to be there to look after her,” Ahmad said in a published interview.
His experience highlights the responsibilities that can remain invisible behind an ordinary cup of tea. The stall is both a source of income and a workplace shaped by the demands of family care.
Milk sellers also contribute to the morning routine, supplying households, shops and tea vendors. While traditional door-to-door deliveries have changed in some areas with the expansion of retail outlets and packaged milk, the need for a reliable early supply remains.
Together, these workers form a small but essential chain connecting producers, neighbourhood businesses and households. A delay at one point can affect the next: milk is needed for tea, bread must be ready for breakfast, and customers expect both to be available when they leave home.
The work, however, comes with challenges. Early hours can disrupt family life, while rising costs and uncertain earnings put pressure on small businesses. Traditional occupations must also compete with changing consumer habits and the growing preference among some young people for other careers.
For bakery workers, the physical demands of working near hot ovens can be exhausting. Tea vendors depend heavily on regular customers, while milk sellers must maintain timely deliveries to preserve trust.
Despite these difficulties, their services remain closely tied to everyday life in Kashmir. Their contribution is measured less by public recognition than by the consistency with which they serve customers each morning.
As the city becomes busier, the people who prepared its first bread and poured its first cups of tea gradually blend into the crowd. Most customers move on without knowing how early the work began or what responsibilities the workers carry beyond their stalls and shops. Yet every morning, the routine begins again. Kashmir’s morning tea may appear to be a simple household habit, but behind it lies a network of workers whose labour starts before sunrise and helps the rest of the city begin its day.
