GRANNY'S BETEL BOX

A Story by Shashwati Roy

Every household have those steel "paan ka dabba" which is only accessible to the shining wrinkled hands of grandmom or granddad. These paan ka dabba is tiny but holds a special memory to kids who hang around and play with granny to have sweets, to get away from homework scoldings by parents and to have just a little bit of betel leaf from that steel box. It's in my case specially.

My grandmother's betel box traveled quite a lot and it holds a memory which brings back the life story from Bangladesh to India. It holds memoir of Bangladeshi culture and those big farm house where she used to live to Kolkata's Galliyan and new house with different Bengali accent and food culture. Everything was left behind to one foreign country which is only divided by a single wire but that steel betel box was packed in her handbag. To cross a country, become refugee and then to settle in a well proper mannered Bengali middle class family, that betel box saw everything.

After having a grand luncheon, what a happiness was to see granny opening dabba, making a role of that leaf with meetha supaari and cherry and then slowly munching it. This scene used to be a glitter in my eyes. Till the age of 10, that box was only in purview of my granny. After that I started to grow up and so my naughty brains too. I used to play Doctor-Doctor with my brother, and in order to make medicines, those betel leaf came to work, as it has a bitter taste. I used to go to my granny's room and with a tippy toe silently steal one leaf from that box. But ofcourse this need to come to an end and that by getting a good beating from my mother. One day my brother took that leaf in his mouth and started vomiting. Well, after that you all know, my Doctor-Doctor game was over by then.

By the time my childhood game ended, I entered the 18+ age and career game started poking me. Betel box placed in my hand and it was a responsibility to hand over the steel box to granny after grand luncheon. I enjoyed that phase because after a hectic schedule, seeing paan made by granny and having small peck talk was alluring and became a sweet habit of me.

Whenever I sit with my closed friends and start talking about granny, betel box always come around in conversation and refresh those memories with mixed emotions. Every person in our life leave impression in our mind and leave behind some token of love, which in my case was Betel box.

© 2018 Shashwati Roy

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Am so so elated now!!! Trust me I never had thought that I'll be reading something so preserved with love -
memories and that paan ka dabba!! I've got two dabbas in my house...one belongs to my mom's mother's and the another belongs to my dad's mother...so both belongs to my lovely grannies I can say....Mom often takes them out from cupboard to wipe off the dust but still the white "chun" is visible in it's small cavities....I didn't have the fortune to see my grannies yet I feel the token of love from them in those boxes....am amazing memory you shared friend...am actually grateful to you!!! :) Almighty's grace be upon you :)