Fareem Pan Shop

We opened up here in Shahdara Kardam Puri quite a while back. It’s a small place, just enough for the counter and a few containers where we keep everything. Mostly it’s just me and sometimes a helper sitting here from morning until the late evening hours. You see the same faces every day, people going to work or coming back home. The street gets dusty in the afternoon but that’s just how it is around here. I spend a lot of time cleaning the betel leaves and getting the lime paste ready before anyone even shows up. It’s not a big fancy business, just a spot where people stop for a minute. Sometimes the light flickers if the wiring acts up, but we get by. We know which neighbor likes their pan sweet and who wants something stronger without even asking them anymore. It’s quiet in the early morning but once the sun stays up, the noise from the road picks up. We’ve seen the kids in the neighborhood grow up and start coming here themselves. There isn't much to say about the shop itself. It is just walls and a counter with some jars. The wooden stool in the corner is older than the sign outside. We just keep things moving, making sure the leaves are fresh every day. Sometimes we run out of change and have to ask the guy next door. It’s just life in Shahdara for us.