Manikanta Pan Shop

Manikanta Pan Shop is sitting on Princess Street in Basavanagudi. It is a small stall, really just enough room for me to stand and have all my jars within reach. I spend the whole day folding leaves and mixing the ingredients. My fingers are usually stained from the lime and the juices. Princess Street has a lot of people walking by, especially in the evenings when the weather cools down. I’ve lived in Basavanagudi for a long time, so I know many of the faces that stop by the shop. The jars on my shelf are filled with different nuts, pastes, and sweets. I have to keep them all organized or I can't work fast when a crowd gathers. It is a simple setup with a small counter and a stool that I rarely get to sit on. Sometimes the rain blows in and I have to move everything back a bit. I don't have a website or anything fancy; I just stand here and make pan for whoever wants it. It’s a lot of repetitive movement, picking up the leaf, spreading the paste, and adding the fillings. I watch the cars go by and talk to the regulars about local news. It’s not a big business, just a way to make a living on a street corner in a part of town I like. I’ll keep doing this as long as people keep coming by.