Arshad Khan ( Chai Wala ) Arshad Khan's was photographed by Pakistani photographer Javeria "Jiah" Ali in a Sunday market (itwar bazaar) in Islamabad, where he was selling tea.[6] Ali was attending a photowalk event when she spotted Arshad's tea stall. She explained, "I took his picture during a photowalk I attended a few months back, but shared the post recently on Instagram and someone shared it on other social media platform after which it went viral."[7]
Khan's photo received global attention when it went viral on social media trending as #ChaiWala in Pakistan,[8] and India.[9][10][11] Khan was then contacted, interviewed and photographed by dozens of agencies and media outlets both domestic and international.[12][13][14] Khan said "I came to know this morning that I am very good looking. All these people are coming and taking pictures and videos of me."[15] Talking about working in films he said, "I have not thought about (acting in) movies, because it's not been done by anyone in our family, acting in films is not a honorable work. Pashtuns always look for work that is honorable. If I can find some clean, honorable work, I will certainly do it."[16][17][18]
In an interview Ali said, "I was attracted to the entire scene that presented itself to me, the perfect amount of sunlight, the hustle and bustle of crowd around his stall, his concentration in his task, it was a combination of all these factors which led me to take his picture."[6] She further said, "I am happy that I was able to help the young lad, and I cannot take the entire credit myself. I just happened to be there at the right time to be able to take and share his picture."[19]
Khan was signed up by Islamabad-based online retailer Fitin agency as a model.[20] He appeared in ATV morning show Mehakti Subha,[21] and later on ARY Digital in Nida Yasir's morning show Good Morning Pakistan where he received a complete make over by a team of specialist at Nabila.[22]