Shukla Pan Didi Shop

Shukla Pan Didi Shop is over in Versova on Shankar Mutt Road, right near Gandhi Bazaar. It’s a small stall, the kind you see on many corners in Mumbai. We mostly sell pan, but we also have the usual things like cigarettes and some small snacks. People call it Didi’s shop because that’s how everyone knows the woman who runs it. It is a very local spot. People walking to the bazaar often stop here for a minute to chat while their pan is being made. We spend a lot of time cleaning the betel leaves and arranging the jars of sweets and tobacco. The road outside is always busy with rickshaws and people carrying bags of groceries. We have a small radio that plays music sometimes, but mostly it’s just the sound of the street. During the monsoon, we have to pull the plastic sheets down to keep the rain out. It’s not a big business, just a small shop that has been part of the neighborhood for a long time. We know most of the people who come by by their first names. We stay open quite late because that’s when people like to come out for a walk after dinner. It’s just a simple corner shop in Versova where things stay pretty much the same every day. We just keep our small jars filled and ready.