Meet the woman behind the paan empire

Brut India

11/8/2023

In a world full of paanwalas, say hello to a paanwali.

Transcript

00:00In India, there's a paan shop on almost every street, be it a village, town or city.

00:22One such paan shop is in Delhi's Connaught Place.

00:26But guess what? The whole business is run by a paanwali.

00:56Anita sells at least 150 varieties of meetha paan and 50 varieties of chocolate paan to customers at Yammu's Panchayat.

01:26Most of the local paan shops are run by people who eat simple paan.

01:29They don't eat paan made with waste fresheners.

01:32Started in 1992, the paan parlour is the brainchild of Anita's grandfather, Haribhai Lalwani,

01:40who started this business in a tiny space.

01:43The shop was later handed over to her father.

01:46So, she always had in mind that the paan parlour is only for people who drink alcohol, smoke cigarettes,

01:54or people who don't come with their families, who come to fight, goon around.

02:00Why not a showroom with air-conditioning, beautiful ambience and 7-star interiors?

02:10She had this thought in mind in 1978.

02:14While paan shops are predominantly run by men,

02:17her father wanted his four daughters to take over their family's paan business.

02:44According to the National Health Service in England,

02:51chewing paan which normally contains tobacco raises the risk of mouth cancer.

02:56Despite the health risk, Anita's shop continues to garner attention.

03:01But how?

03:14Absolutely.

03:15Whatever you see it here, you will also see it on the shelf of your mom's kitchen.

03:20Paan has chlorophyll, it has life, dates have vitality, fennel doesn't let your acne come.

03:27Coconut keeps your hair and skin clear.

03:30Guys, this is the best paan I've ever had.

03:33I'm not kidding.

03:34I'm not kidding.

03:35I'm not kidding.

03:36I'm not kidding.

03:37I'm not kidding.

03:38I'm not kidding.

03:39I'm not kidding.

03:40I'm not kidding.

03:41I'm not kidding.

03:42I'm not kidding.

03:43I'm about to eat the 24-karat gold paan.

03:48Music

04:09Around.

04:10Okay.

04:10Yes.

04:12Yes.

04:13Wow.

04:13Music

04:24Although the parlor is abuzz with paan lovers,

04:27there are a few customers who react differently to the various combinations

04:31the shop has to offer.

04:33Wow.

04:33Especially middle-aged ladies.

04:35What do they eat?

04:36Paan is a simple thing to eat.

04:40Who puts chocolate on paan?

04:42People were calling us mad.

04:43Who spends so much money on paan?

04:46In the 90s, it cost 50 lakh rupees.

04:48The good thing is that they start talking to each other.

04:52If we mortgage the property papers,

04:56we'll eat gold paan.

04:57If we have to sell our kidneys,

04:59we'll eat gold paan.

05:01But running a paan business for more than 30 years

05:05came with its own set of challenges.

05:07The initial challenge was of course the price factor.

05:10Because it used to sell for 2 rupees,

05:11we used to sell it for 15 rupees.

05:13The current challenge is that

05:16whoever comes here should know what's new today.

05:19After setting up paan parlors in five cities in India,

05:23such as New Delhi, Noida, Ghaziabad, Ujjain, and Mumbai,

05:27Anita also opened a paan shop in Thailand.

05:30I'm getting both my daughters ready to go to America to study,

05:35but they have to come back,

05:36handle the paan business,

05:39and take it to the IPO listing.

05:41Guys, I'm making paan.

05:43Paan.

05:45I'm making gold paan.

05:54I think I'll have a back-up profession.

Meet the woman behind the paan empire

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