What is Paan?
By Kamla Bhatt • Aug 13th, 2012Category: Diaspora, India, Life, Living In America, Travel, Video, YouTube Videos
Chances are you read the latest article on paan in The New York Times. Paan has become the “icon of Jackson Heights,” as a South Asian denizen put it in the article. Those familiar red paan stains now dot the landscape of this New York neighborhood. It is just not New York that is challenged by those paan stains. Across the pond in a London neighborhood folks are struggling with their “paan crisis.”
But it is just not New York and London that are challenged by those pesky red paan stains. Over in Calcutta, that city’s beloved icon “Howrah bridge,” is under a serious threat. All those millions of paan stains are apparently threatening the very structure of the bridge.
So, what is paan?
Here is Prof. Pushpesh Pant explaining what exactly is a paan.
Foodie and restaurant critic Maryyam Reshii underscores the evolution of a paanwala’s shop in old Delhi’s Daryaganj.
Paan kha kar thhuukne-wale
Haora brij ko katal kiya!
Suna hu~ ki Qaeda-wale
Isi ciiz se faeda liya.
Abh to Bluumbarg, Netanyahu
Ghabrahat se hil rahe hae~.
Saare brij me sipahi bhejkar,
Phir bhi raat ko jag rahe hae~.