From film stars to politicians, they have all eaten his pans!
Sanjay Austa

"TASTE my pan once, and you cannot resist coming for more", claims 82-year-old Shiv Narayan Pandey, Delhi’s popular panwallah. And true to this boast, his tiny shop in Connaught Place has been the favourite stop for celebrities and the pan connoisseurs down the years. People, ranging from the wall-staining rickshawallahs to former Prime Ministers, have savoured Pandey’s pans and come back for more. Pandey remembers Jawaharlal Nehru hopping over to his shop for his after-dinner betel leaf while his cavalcade waited on the road. His shop has been the training ground for actorSayeed Jaffery when he sat there one day to rehearse his role as panwallah in Chashme Badoor. Besides picking up the nuances and the pan- hop small talk, Jaffery also doled out a few leaves to unsuspecting customers.

Many such incidents and many such celebrities have amused Pandey in his over 60 years of selling pans. He has seen the evolution of M.F. Husain from a struggling artist to an accomplished painter. The impecunious Hussain was Pandey’s regular customer and had promised to give Pandey a present one day as a token of his gratitude. Almost 20 years later, a successful Husain kept his promise when he stopped his car in front of Pandey’s shop. As is his wont, Husain emerged barefoot holding one long paint-brush in one hand. In the other, he carried a painting of Hanuman in mid-flight. Husain gave the painting to Pandey’s younger son who was maning the shop asking him to give it to his father. "I did not know Husain saab. I thought he was some weird old man and I put the painting in one corner of the shop," he says. It was only later in the evening that he learnt from his father that the old bare-footed man was the internationally acclaimed painter. Soon word got around about the painting and Pandey’s shop was flooded with offers. The painting had Hanuman holding aloft two betel leaves reliving the mythological story of the Monkey God fetching the sanjeevini booti for the wounded Laxman.

"I have been offered over Rs 10 lakh for the painting by many people, but I will not part with it. It is a present from a friend and presents are not for sale," says Pandey emphatically.Pandey hung the painting in his shop for one year but the offers for its sale became so frequent and persistent that he decided to take it home. "Anybody who comes to the shop wants to buy the painting. I don’t want to get tempted so I took it home," laughs Pandey.

Pandey’s preparations were so popular that he quickly endeared himself to the pan-loving political bigwigs. Indira Gandhi was so happy with him that she is said to have offered him a Congress ticket to stand for elections!! But Pandey brushed the offer aside with his characteristic earthy humour. He told her, "Paan mein choona lagai sakte hai, rajniti mein nahi." His popularity with the politicians was so much that they helped him open a small kiosk near their government bungalows in North Avenue, Delhi. The new shop is manned by Pandey’s younger son, Devi Prasad.

Pandey himself sits in the old shop at Connaught Place.He had set up shop in 1942 and it is one of the oldest shops in the area. Pandey started out as a panwallah by buying pans in Chandni Chowk and selling them in Connaught Place. "I would buy pans in Chandni Chowk for one paise and sell them in Connaught Place for two," he says.

Because of his age, he now sits in the shop only for about four-five hours in the evening. Therest of the time is spent at home in rest and prayer. "I am getting on in years but there are some old committed customers who like to have their pan made by me. I come to the shop for them," says Pandey. In appearance, Pandey’s shop is just like any other in New Delhi. It is big enough only to accommodate Pandey and his younger son Hanuman who mans this shop when his father is at home. A small table-fan suspended from a wall is the only means of beating the Delhi heat. In front of them is spread the paraphernalia. So what is so special about Pandey’s pans that they are so sought after?

"I don’t compromise on quality. Everything that goes into my concoction is pure and genuine," he says. Pandey believes that making pans is an art in itself in which proper proportion and balance plays the main role.

Another aspect of Pandey’s shop is that it does not deal in tobacco products. Maghai and Banarsi betel leaves are the most popular. To vouch for the popularity of the shop, its walls are a montage of photographs of Prime Ministers like Nehru and Indira Gandhi, Presidents like R. Venkatraman and V.V. Giri and other celebrities all relishing Pandey’s art forms.

Pandey’s popularity has spread overseas and NRIs ask their relatives to bring Pandey’s creations on their trip abroad. "When they come to India, they order a whole load of pans to take back with them," says Pandey.

Pandey wishes that the legacy of his pans remain with his family. "My sons are already shouldering the responsibility of running the shops. But no one can say what is in store for the future," he says philosophically.