Mangesh Pan Bhandar

Mangesh Pan Bhandar is just a small stall in Malad West 1. It’s nothing more than a corner where we have our jars and the leaves laid out. The traffic in Malad is always heavy, so there is constant honking in the background. We open up early and stay open until very late at night. That’s when most people come by, after they’ve had their dinner at the places nearby. We have all the different ingredients in those little glass bottles. Some of them have been there a long time. We spend a lot of time just washing the leaves and keeping them fresh under a damp cloth. It’s a simple job, but you have to be fast when a group of people shows up all at once. My hands are always stained a bit red or green from the stuff we use. We don't have any chairs, so everyone just stands around on the pavement and talks. It’s a good way to hear all the local gossip. We’ve seen the buildings across the street go up and the shops change owners many times. We just stay here in our little corner. It’s hot and dusty most of the time, but we have a small radio that keeps us company. It’s just a normal pan shop like any other, serving the people who live and work in Malad. We don't need much space to do what we do. As long as we have our supplies, we are happy to stay right here.