The Gazetteers Department

Pan-chewing is a favourite habit of people in the district since long. But pan-bidi shops as they appear to-day have come up only during the last few decades. They are found not only at important squares, railway stations and bus-stands in the towns but also at villages which are far away from the district town. At times the pan-bidivala does not require a fixed place for business. He rather prefers to move with his belongings from one place in the town to another or from one village to another especially on the weekly bazar day.

A pan-bidi shop can be conveniently started with little accommodation and small investment. Show-cases to keep bidis and match-boxes, brass-pots to keep raw materials, a pair of nutcrackers and some picture-frames for decoration is all that is required to set up a small shop. The total investment varied according to the size from Rs. 150 to Rs. 300 in the establishments surveyed at Bhir, Ambejogai, Parali, Kaij and Manjlegaon.

The working capital is required to purchase such accessories as betel-nuts, betel-leaves, catechu, lime, tobacco and sundry things known as masala. It varied from Rs.80 to Rs. 300, respectivley. These things are either directly sold to the customers or are used as raw material for preparing "pan-patti".

The pan-patti is generally of two types, the ordinary and the special or masala. Next to pan-pattis, bidis and cigarettes also have a good sale. The average daily turnover of a pan-bidi shop depends upon its location, decent appearance and decoration as also on the skill of the tradesman who prepares pan-patti and the quality of the pan itself. In the shops surveyed it was found that their gross income ranged between Rs. 150 and Rs. 500; whereas the earnings varied from Rs. 100 to Rs. 250.

Thus with limited capital a pan-bidi shop gives good returns to its proprietor. If he can invest more in such show articles as tube-lights and radio-sets, he can earn more by attracting a larger coterie of consumers who love for a while to loiter listening to the tunes.