Arshad Khan doesn’t mind being called "Chaiwala" because he is after all a tea boy. But he is certainly surprised at the attention he is getting.

Pictures of the handsome, 18-year-old teenager making tea at a stall in Islamabad’s Itwar (Sunday) Bazaar have gone viral and made him instantly famous. Reporters from television channels have met and interviewed him, and curious young people, including females, have had their pictures taken with him.

The young man, originally from Mardan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa but living with his family in Islamabad, isn’t the first "Chaiwala" who has become well-known. The most famous "Chaiwala" in the world lives in our neighbourhood and is now the prime minister of India. Narendra Modi worked at his father’s teashop in his native Gujarat state in India before deciding to devote his life to the Hindu nationalist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

One couldn’t help recall Modi’s life and skills as a "Chaiwala" when one saw television footage in which he is seen making tea for President Barack Obama during one of their meetings. Who else could make tea better than someone who learnt it as a child growing up in Vadnagar, Gujarat!

As for Arshad Khan, he has been doing odd jobs selling fruit and tea at Islamabad’s Sunday market. Having 16 siblings, Arshad Khan had little chance of receiving any decent education. His parents put him to work early in his life to contribute to the family income. The fact that the family shifted to Islamabad from Mardan to seek better means of livelihood explained the struggles it faced to make both ends meet.

Arshad Khan was reportedly found and photographed first by Jiah Ali, an Instagram user and photographer who certainly has an eye for the unusual. The boy with the blue eyes must have stood out even in his simple clothes and his humble surroundings. His blue added to the sharpness of his blue eyes and contributed to his perfect facial features. Supplementing his appeal was his black hair and hairstyle, a stubble and moustache.

Blue eyes certainly are striking. Remember American singer and actor Frank Sinatra, whose bright blue eyes earned him the popular nickname "Ol Blue Eyes" and became the title of a hit song.

Jiah Ali clicked the picture that took the Internet by storm and attracted the attention of fans not only in Pakistan but also in other countries. It was soon on Twitter and other social media sites.

Reports said Arshad Khan has also a growing fan club in India. Many Indians could identify with the Islamabad Chaiwala from Pakistan, with their own prime minister who too had humble beginnings like Arshad Khan.

Arshad Khan has already been offered a modelling contract with a fashion brand in Islamabad. The question that is being asked is if this can lead to a career in modelling. The task will be daunting for the shy village boy who won’t have a clue about the demands of this job. He definitely has good looks, but a model needs more than that to succeed.

Media reports said Arshad Khan was also offered a role in a film, but he declined the offer. He would know his conservative family won’t approve of it. Besides, acting cannot be his cup of tea even if he is a tea boy.

The instant fame that someone as obscure as Arshad Khan obtained through an Instagram picture explains the power of the modern technology and social media. Things go viral within no time and these are then twitted to start a trend that transcends borders and cultures. Even the humble "Chaiwala" has a chance of becoming known and sought-after if he is able to catch the eye of an expert photographer.

Imagine how many more handsome men like Arshad Khan, and numerous pretty girls, and the most unusual things are waiting to be found out, photographed and made famous. Both the object and the photographer can earn fame if they are lucky. One such case was that of American photographer Steve McCurry and an Afghan girl named Sharbat Gula.

Steve McCurry took a picture of the 12-year-old Afghan refugee girl, Sharbat Gula, in the Nasir Bagh Camp on the outskirts of Peshawar in 1984 and both became famous. This was an amazing picture of an angry-looking girl who was in a hurry to go home as the school time had finished, but had to stay longer as her teacher wanted the photographer to take her picture. Her piercing green eyes looked sharper due to the bright red chaddar covering her head. The picture was strikingly haunting, and was described as truly depicting the suffering of the Afghan people in the wake of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

Steve McCurry returned to Peshawar in 2002 to locate Sharbat Gula. She was found out after great effort and was photographed nearly 18 years later as a married woman with kids. This writer was part of the effort to find and persuade her and her family to participate in a documentary that the National Geographic TV channel produced on her life. Those pictures changed her life as both the channel and Steve McCurry helped her with money, and paid for her family’s other needs.

However, the latest news about Sharbat Gula is her arrest in Pakistan on October 26 for fraudulently making the Pakistani computerised national identity card. She did this out of desperation as all Afghan refugees, including her, were being sent back to Afghanistan and she wanted to find a way to stay in Pakistan. As her husband has died and her son is an infant, she thought it will be risky for her to live in Afghanistan due to insecurity. Like thousands of other Afghan refugees, she obtained the Pakistani ID card by bribing certain officials and in the process violated the law.

Returning to Arshad Khan, his case hasn’t met any unpleasantness yet as happened to Sharbat Gula. He is still enjoying his new-found fame. Many won’t like to be photographed due to privacy or other reasons, but Arshad Khan couldn’t have refused when a young girl approached him at his tea stall and requested to take his picture. Rather, he would have found this amusing, wondering why is he being photographed. Now he knows what it is all about. That one picture of him, posing for the camera, making tea has changed his life. Hopefully, that change for Arshad Khan is for the better.