How A Women’s Chai House In New York Is Subverting Patriarchal Cultural Traditions

Tucked away in an office building on New York’s Wall Street is a chai house where pots float down from the ceiling and dupattas drape around you like a warm hug. This installation for the Cha Cha Festival, an immersive festival centred around Asian tea cultures, is the brainchild of British Pakistani architect and designer Areesha Khalid. Inspired by the dhabas she’d seen across Pakistan, Khalid wanted to create a magical little space honouring our rich desi tea culture. However, while flying pots and drapery are beautiful, the most magical part of this teahouse is that it was made just for women.

Most South Asians can’t go a day without a cup of chai. Sure, we love the taste of it and the caffeinated kick it adds to our day, but the routine of drinking a cup every morning and evening brings us comfort. It’s central to our culture not just as a food, but as a practice. And yet, many spaces dedicated to drinking chai are made with only half the population in mind. In Pakistan, dhabas are largely only open to men. 

While these roadside stops originated in Punbjab as a place of rest and refreshment for lorry drivers, today they’re an iconic cornerstone of desi culture. That fact that such an important public space often excludes women is a travesty. Though we aren’t strictly barred from entering, it’s easy to sense when a male-dominated space is not welcoming. As long as women don’t feel safe and secure participating in a commonplace, even iconic, cultural practice, we have a lot of work to do. 

Frustrated by the exclusion of women in spaces at the core of Pakistani chai culture, Khalid built a tea house of her own. She constructed an intimate space inspired by what a “feminised history of chai” could look like inside four vibrant blue walls lined with wooden panels. Considering Pakistani women often forgo dhabas to drink chai at home, the panels include fibre rope weaving that mimics the charpayi (a traditional woven bed) that women sit on while enjoying their afternoon tea. Khalid continues to honour these women by hanging dupattas from the ceiling and using props sourced in Androon Pindi to reference elements of traditional Pakistani courtyards in her design. 

Areesha Khalid is a designer we’ve had our eye on for quite a while now. In 2023, we covered her ‘Diaspora Digest,’ a project dedicated to representing South Asian architectural tradition. Her work transformed illustrations of old South Asian homes into magazine covers a la ‘Architecture Digest.’ Her collection of artworks eventually turned into a coffee table book selling hundreds of copies. While Khalids romantic, nostalgic illustrations were beautiful and struck a chord with both diasporic and homegrown audiences, her latest chai house project offers us a nuanced look at our culture. It honours South Asia’s aesthetic and cultural beauty while pointing out a glaring flaw in our traditional practices.

It’s telling that something as simple as a space designed with women in mind is a piece of poignant social commentary. Unfortunately, the very act of women relaxing in public spaces is still somewhat radical. In a society that loves tea, and where women are expected to be the homemakers making chai every morning and evening, it is ridiculous that we continue to be excluded from the spaces we are culturally integral to. At first glance, Khalid’s work is beautiful, but with a closer look, we can see that every corner of her chai house pays homage to the women unfairly ostracised across South Asia. 

The chai house is open to visitors every weekend this February. This installation is one of five tea houses being displayed at the Cha Cha Festival, each honouring a different type of tea and its originating culture. The Cha Cha Festival also offers tea tastings, workshops and other interactive programs where you can engage with tea cultures from across Asia. 

Learn more about the Cha Cha Festival here. 

Follow Areesha Khalid here.

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