Banti Pan

Banti Pan is located right on Dumdum Road in the Ghughudanga area of Kolkata. It is a tiny spot, really just a small counter where we spend most of the day. People walking to the station or coming back from work usually stop by for a quick minute. It is noisy here because of the buses and the rickshaws constantly passing by, but you get used to it. We keep the usual stuff, different kinds of pan and some tobacco, plus some small sweets for the kids. The morning starts early before the sun is even fully up so we can get everything prepared. Sometimes the rain gets quite heavy on Dumdum Road and we have to pull the plastic sheets down, but we stay open. It is a simple life running a pan shop. You talk to a lot of people every day, from the rikshaw walas to office workers. Most people are in a hurry, so we have to be fast with our hands. Kolkata is a busy city and this part of Dumdum is no different. We have been in this same spot for years. The walls could probably use a fresh coat of paint but nobody really minds that. We just focus on keeping the betel leaves fresh. It is not some big business, just Banti Pan doing what we do every day. If you are near Ghughudanga, you have probably seen us standing there. We keep things going from Kolkata - 700030.