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Indians spit, never swallow: the Paan story

posted on Monday, August 25, 2008 12:16 PM

In India the red stuff that everyone spits out all over the streets isn’t blood, but juice produced by chewing paan – a digestive taken after meals, and also a mild stimulant. A paan consists of chopped or shredded nut (always referred to as a betel nut, though in fact, it comes from the areca palm), wrapped in a leaf (which does come from the betel tree).

It is prepared with ingredients such as katha (a red paste), chuna (slaked white lime), mitha massala (a mix of sweet spices, which can be ingested) and zarda (chewing tobacco, not to be swallowed on any account, especially if it’s made with chuna). The triangular package thus formed is wedged inside the cheek and chewed slowly, and in the case of zarda and chuna paans, spitting out the juices as you go.

Paan and paan massala (a mix of betel nuts, fennel seeds, sweets and flavourings) are sold by paan-wallahs, often from tiny stalls squeezed between shops. Paan-wallahs develop big reputations and some of the more extravagant concoctions come with silver and gold foil.

The never ending battle with the betel spittle……and help from 300 million Hindu dieties!

The ubiquitous red stains on white washed walls of the public building in Calcutta (and the rest of India), especially on the corners of stairwells, was fought with official requests of ‘Please Spit Here – Please!’ pasted over large spittoons containing sand. Nothing worked.

Then a bright spark came up with the idea of ceramic tiles carrying images of Hindu gods and goddesses placed strategically along corridors and staircases. It as though the gods are providing the answer.

Similarly, the sign ‘Commit No Nuisance’, intended to prevent outside walls being used as urinals failed, so stencilled line drawings of the deities are proving a powerful reminder not to be so disgusting.

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