Nav Durga Pan Shop

This little shop at 178 Bai Ka Bagh has been here for a good number of years. Nav Durga Pan Shop is just a small corner spot where people stop for a minute or two. We make pan, sell cigarettes, and have some cold drinks stored in the small cooler. Allahabad can get very humid, so the cold water is always popular with the passersby. It is not much of a big store, just a simple wooden counter and some glass jars of candy for the kids who walk past after school. Most of our customers are the same people every single day. They come by after work, lean against the wall, and talk about whatever is in the news or the local gossip. We know their names and exactly how they like their pan made. Some like more lime, others want it sweet with extra masala. We just do it how they ask. The area around Bai Ka Bagh is usually busy with people moving between the houses and the main roads. We stay open late because that is when most people have time to hang out and relax. It is a simple business. We do not have fancy displays or anything special. Just the stuff hanging on the hooks and the smell of tobacco and betel leaf in the air. Sometimes the rain comes down so hard we have to pull the plastic sheets down, but we stay open anyway. It is just a neighborhood spot.