Kamru Pan Wala

We are down in the Masjid area. It’s a tight spot, very crowded and always noisy with the sounds of the station and the markets nearby. Our shop is just a small counter, really. We spend the whole day standing there, washing leaves and chopping up nuts and other bits that go into the pan. Everything is laid out in little metal containers so we can reach them quickly when the rush starts. Masjid is the kind of place where you have to move fast or you get in someone's way. We have people stopping by all day long. Some just want a quick cigarette and others want a specific kind of pan they’ve been getting from us for years. The walls of our stall are covered in old shelves where we keep the jars of sweets and tobacco. It’s not a polished place. There’s a bit of lime paste stuck to the wood here and there, and the air smells like cloves and betel nut all the time. We don't have much room to move around, so we’ve learned to be efficient with our hands. We know the people who work in the nearby warehouses and the guys who drive the carts. It’s a lot of repetitive work, folding the leaves just right, but we’ve been doing it a long time. It’s just how we make a living.