At four in the afternoon, Arun Mehta, 83, makes tea. He did the same thing when he worked at a stationery shop, and he sees no reason to change the schedule now.
Was four o’clock always tea time?
More or less. At the shop, somebody would put the kettle on around then. If customers were waiting, tea became four-thirty. We were flexible.
What did you do at the shop?
Sales, stock, bills, whatever needed doing. Pens, notebooks, envelopes, school supplies. Before the school year started, it became very busy.
Did you enjoy it?
It was a job. Some days enjoyable, some days boring. I liked regular customers. I did not like carrying boxes upstairs.
Do you miss working?
I miss seeing people without having to arrange it. At work, people simply appear. In retirement, if you want company, sometimes you have to call first.
What do you do after tea?
I walk downstairs if the weather is good. I sit near the gate for a little while. There is a fruit seller nearby. We talk about nothing important.
Mehta takes his tea with milk and very little sugar. He said his doctor told him to reduce sugar years ago. “I reduced it,” he said. “I did not eliminate happiness completely.”
By S. Patel
