There were two things typical to India that I thought were difficult to automate. First was our staple bread - roti or chapati and next paan. I recently saw some very neat rotimaker videos on the internet. Till they do not invent and automate paan making, our neighbourhood friendly paanwala will continue to offer us our dose of Indian after mint with all the warmth and personal touch that a Paanmaker would lack.
My friendly neighbourhood paanwala is Pandit ji, as I address him fondly - my way of honouring and addressing a person who is so skilled in his craft - he is a maestro at the science and art of making paan.
Pandit ji has now been vending paan from the same location for the past twenty eight years. He always has a smile on his face and like most of his ilk has the ambidextrous capabilities so much required in this trade. He has the abilities of whipping up paan of different specifications with the same cool and composed demeanour.
Chaurasiya's traditionally are the betel leaf growers of Uttar Pradesh. Pandit ji's father moved to Bombay from Uttar Pradesh and his son and our 'Pandit ji' - Lakshmi Shankar Chaurasiya learnt the trade under his father's tutelage at their gaadi in Flora Fountain. He later decided to move to the suburbs and to the then recently opened Grand Central restaurant at Chembur.
Paan aficionados , do I see you heading for Chembur?
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| My Calcutta Saada paan |
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| Lakshmi Shankar Chaurasiya aka Pandit ji |
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