Pakistani ‘chaiwala’ steals hearts on the internet

Jiah Ali, a Pakistani photographer was taking photographs around the streets of Islamabad when she captured a shot of the tea seller in question. The photo went viral as soon as it was posted on Instagram and the subject became known as the “hot chaiwala”. The photo was subsequently shared by countless Facebook pages along with social media sites like BuzzFeed, 9gag, and Reddit devoting a sizeable portion of their daily traffic to him.

Hot-tea ? p.s you can catch him at itwar bazaar (peshawer mor) near the sabzi area #seewhatididthere #potd #instadaily #igersislamabad #igerspakistan #instagram #nikon #jiahsphotography #nikonpakistan #vscocam #vscogrid #dawndotcom #shutterpak #etribunepk #vdco #tea

A photo posted by Jiah Ali (@jiah_ali) on Oct 14, 2016 at 8:50am PDT

On the posts, girls around the world gushed over his supermodel-esque features – his determined pout, windswept hair, chiselled cheekbones, strong jaw, and a captivating gaze from a pair of vivid eyes. #ChaiWala quickly became the most trending topic on Twitter in Pakistan. “I took the photo during a recent photowalk I attended in Islamabad. He had a tiny tea stall in the area near the vegetable section of the city’s Itwar Bazaar (Sunday mart). I spotted him while he was pouring some tea,” BuzzFeed quoted Jiah.

A #ChaiWala has become a social media sensation in #Pakistan..https://t.co/NeGFGZkS7b pic.twitter.com/yunTHTnJ0n— SAMAA TV (@SAMAATV) October 17, 2016

The “chaiwala” roused the interest (and hearts) of so many that even Pakistani national news agencies like Dawn and Samaa TV began covering him. The internet fandom of the “chaiwala” has expanded to India and the Middle East after taking over Pakistan. The “chaiwala” fandom has begged for Pakistan to be spared for the sake of the “chaiwala”. Many calls have even gone out to fashion agencies to hire him as a model.