India lives in its streets, and nowhere is this more apparent than in Mumbai, city of salesmen, busily offering, brewing, collecting or cooking right there on the sidewalk as you stroll by.

The chai-wallah serves up steaming thimbles of tea, the dhobi-wallah collects your laundry, the rickshaw-wallah takes you to your next destination. Where there's a need you can be pretty sure there's someone willing to provide. Got dirty ears? Search out your nearest kaan-saaf-wallah who will happily scrape away the grime, for a modest price.

These roadside entrepreneurs fuel the flourishing street economy of India with their diverse trades and assorted services.

Although many wallah move around to find the demand hotspots, I fondly noted their regular presence in certain neighborhoods while I was living in Mumbai. As I charged around by scooter, rickshaw or taxi, I could always count on nods of recognition by my local wallah from their pavement perches and regular haunts.

I would often catch sight of them plying their trade amidst the flurry of city life. The flair of the chai-wallah forming arcs of steaming tea as he pours from glass to glass. The precision of the nariel-wallah hacking the tops off coconuts. The calm of the dabba-wallah as he negotiates Mumbai's maddening traffic to deliver dozens of lunch boxes.

At other times they are integral to the street-side commotion with their signature cries to alert us of their offerings and the banter of competing wallah vying for customer attention.

Wallah, and their female equivalent -- walli -- respond to the hundreds of opportunities that Mumbai’s urban neighborhoods present. As vital as they are vibrant, wallahs are a constant feature of the urban Indian landscape and act as functional anchors for the communities they serve.

Read Meena Kadri's photo essay on the subject.