Paan Time

Magazine stand Uncle Jee, who always manages to greet me as I walk by in the morning and again at night, and I have now begun a more verbal exchange since he found out that Im Pakistani and can speak urdu, or hindi as he calls it. He's begun wearing kurta pyjama to work. It looks amazingly desi and for a second as I cross his stand I get the feeling of being on a Bollywood set, honestly the heat makes it seem all the more real. Here's the exchange that took place this morning:

Me: Uncle you should sell paan at your stand too.
Uncle Jee: Paan?
Me: Yes, paan. I've never tried it before but I think to accent your outfit you need to sell paan as well.
UJ: You've never had paan before?
Me (to myself): Do I look South Indian to you!?
Me: No, not at all.
UJ: Not even in Pakistan?!

Abay, meine tere ko bola na re. Nai khaya tho bolay nai khaya, na! Samjha kar.

Me: No, Ive only been to Pakistan once.
UJ: Oh, you were born here.

Do I detect pity in his voice? Haha.

UJ: Paan kahan se milay ga.
Me: Jersey
UJ: Haan, wahan par tho hai. Here the only place is Bensalem.
Me: Arrey, thats near where I live. Tell me the place and I'll buy some and bring it. Dono ek saath khayen gay.

I cant believe Im asking an Uncle Jee guy to eat paan with me. Kya yaad rakhain gay yeh bhi! LOL. Inki tho setting ho gayi. I am SO joking! :D

What Uncle Jee says next catches me off guard and really calls my bluff.

UJ: I will get it and you will have it Monday.

Ok one thing I will never understand is the paan industry. What is the fascination? What drives people mad for paan? Its like the Krispy Kreme of the South-Asian subcontinent. I'll swear up and down they put some sort of drug in Krispy Kreme to keep everyone coming back for more. What makes paan paan?

Of course, I look to Wikipedia for answers:
Paan - Betel Leaf, pan (in many Indic languages, हिन्दी : पान ), or beeda (in Tamil) is a type of Indian digestive, which consists of fillings wrapped in a triangular package using leaves of the Betel pepper (Piper betle) and held together with a toothpick or a clove. Paan is an ubiquitous sight in North India, but in urban areas, chewing paan is generally considered a nuisance because some spit the paan out in public areas.

My life's goal has been to eat it and spit the juice into someone's pocket like in the movies. READ: Someone else's pocket. Not mine. :D

Paan is available in many different forms and flavours. The most commonly found include:

Tobacco (tambaku paan): Betel leaf filled with powdered tobacco with spices.
Betel nut (paan supari or sada paan): Betel leaf filled with a mixture consisting of a coarsely ground or chopped betel nuts and other spices, called paan masala.
"Sweet" (meetha paan): Betel leaf with neither tobacco nor betel nuts. The filling is made up primarily of coconut, fruit preserves, and various spices. It is also often served with a maraschino cherry.

Tobacco? Does paan have an age limit in India/Pakistan? For that matter, does paan have an age limit in the US?? Im so not into chewing tobacco.

Anyway, I shall continue to freak out up until Monday. I'll let you know how it goes.