Arun Shanbhag ([info]arunshanbhag) wrote,
@ 2004-12-03 10:44:00
Previous Entry  Add to memories!  Tell a Friend  Next Entry
Get a paan and some fruits

This paan-wallah has been serving customers near our house for as long as I can remember. His day starts at 6:30am, when he bathes at an outdoor water tank and scrubs his pots to a gleaming sheen. Then washes all the paan. As kids we used to reach over and grab some of the 'sweet paan masala' on the way to school. After Sunday fish curry lunch, we would all get paan from him and act like grown-ups - chewing and spitting out the juice :) Even now my ego is pumped when I stand by the street corner and proclaim, "bhaiya, ek mitha paan banana - chuna kum" His wife lives in Uttar Pradesh. He would take a month off each year and visit her (what sacrifice). Now his three sons help at this stall and run other stalls of their own in the area.

Here he is preparing for some of his early customers. The fruitwallah from the stall behind is posing as well.

yellow cast is from the funky tarpaulin to protect from the blazing sun and occasional downpour




The Fruit Stall. Same stall I photographed on my earlier trip two years ago and posted here. In both, a Taxi awaits and people walk by :) Fruit-wallah brags that the blemish-free, ruby red pomegranates were imported from Kabul. So I got some of those in addition to my regular sitaaphal. Yumm!





x-posted to [info]mumbai and [info]indiaphotoalbum




(23 comments) - (Post a new comment)


[info]gotjanx
2004-12-03 04:51 pm UTC (link)
Dude! How do you get those colors out ...woah.

(Reply to this) (Thread)


[info]arunshanbhag
2004-12-03 08:18 pm UTC (link)
*bows* avoid the flash - its tends to drive away most of the color.
Glad you like it. Hope to see exotic Rio pics! :)

(Reply to this) (Parent)


[info]99kanitas
2004-12-03 04:53 pm UTC (link)
i miss sitaphal

(Reply to this) (Thread)

me too !
[info]on9thheaven
2004-12-03 05:44 pm UTC (link)
i miss sitaphal too... reminds me of the times when dad and me used to have a competition to eat it ! :)

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

Re: me too !
[info]99kanitas
2004-12-03 06:58 pm UTC (link)
:D
mum and me did that with pomegranates

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

Re: me too !
[info]arunshanbhag
2004-12-03 08:23 pm UTC (link)
whats with this POM juice ads all over the place!

I want the real thing. Peeling it slowly and collecting the ruby red pearls in a bowl and slowly munching on them. Life in the slow lane I guess!

(Reply to this) (Parent)


[info]arunshanbhag
2004-12-03 08:20 pm UTC (link)
the one fruit I miss sorely. Will post a nice pic next.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)


[info]on9thheaven
2004-12-03 09:40 pm UTC (link)
is it mango ?

hey don't post it until you get some feedback from lj'ers. ok ?

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)


[info]arunshanbhag
2004-12-04 02:42 am UTC (link)
Sitaaphal; Thanks, I will post after monday.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

nice pics
[info]on9thheaven
2004-12-03 05:44 pm UTC (link)
as always - haven't had a paan in 2 years now...

i think its time we visited india *nostalgic*

(Reply to this) (Thread)

Re: nice pics
[info]arunshanbhag
2004-12-03 08:25 pm UTC (link)
btw, chicago has a few places which serve paan - ofcourse nothing like the freshly hand made and highly customized one: bhaiya - katli supari, aur thoda jyada mitha banana

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

Re: nice pics
[info]on9thheaven
2004-12-03 09:38 pm UTC (link)
yep... real paan ka maza hi kuch aur hai - esp. maghai :)

(Reply to this) (Parent)

Re: nice pics
[info]hariputtar
2004-12-03 11:33 pm UTC (link)
- in SF/bay-area a lots of desi joints serve paan. [well, they are not quite the same thing ... but ...]
- running paan-errands/memories from childhood - when various uncles wud give elaborate instructions about which zarda to ask for and so on ... [ kala-pila teen-sau ... ha ha].

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

Re: nice pics
[info]arunshanbhag
2004-12-04 02:44 am UTC (link)
Ha Ha! Our paan-wala had strict instructions not to serve zarda to any of us kids :)
I tasted a pinch once. Nearly threw up!

(Reply to this) (Parent)


[info]sun_rays
2004-12-03 06:28 pm UTC (link)
OOO. Arun you are on a roll, I have read through all your posting and you are a great photgrapher.How do you manage to capture those expression of your victims?. Mine always "pose" for me!

great! keem 'em coming!

(Reply to this) (Thread)


[info]on9thheaven
2004-12-03 07:02 pm UTC (link)
hi added you on my friends list... your journal is interesting !

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)


[info]sun_rays
2004-12-03 10:12 pm UTC (link)
Adding you back! :)

(Reply to this) (Parent)


[info]arunshanbhag
2004-12-03 08:31 pm UTC (link)
thanks,
btw, I know these folks very well. Like an extended family. The paan-wallah has been in front of our house even before I was born. When I was a kid, Aiee used to recruit him to carry me, kicking and screaming, to the doctor's office to get my shots. He still refers to me as baba Hee Hee.

See an earlier post on Gafar.

(Reply to this) (Parent)


[info]shri
2004-12-04 04:59 am UTC (link)
I love, love paan. :D

And in that fruit pic, that yellow light effect makes the fruits appear even more tantalising. :)

(Reply to this) (Thread)


[info]arunshanbhag
2004-12-04 02:28 pm UTC (link)
thanks shri!
re the yellow tarp, do you think thats why they use that color? I was thinking thats something they found for cheap. Who knows. I'll ask next time I visit :)

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)


[info]shri
2004-12-05 02:31 pm UTC (link)
I was thinking thats something they found for cheap.

Yeah, it is cheap and waterproof, besides. I had asked one such fruitseller about that once. :)

(Reply to this) (Parent)

YUMMM!!
[info]joylita
2004-12-05 11:21 am UTC (link)
Got a taste of sweet paan recently sans the 'dangerous' stuff, of course. Quite nice with a distinctive taste.

How I love the pics!! The fruits look more tempting than ever.Wish I could just grab one of those.

Joy

(Reply to this) (Thread)

Re: YUMMM!!
[info]arunshanbhag
2004-12-06 04:17 am UTC (link)
Hey Thanks. how come so late in getting started with the paan.
You should be getting outstanding fruits in MNP or UDP, no?
:)

(Reply to this) (Parent)


(23 comments) - (Post a new comment)

Create an Account
Forgot your login or password?
Login w/ OpenID
English • Español • Deutsch • Русский…