The sticky factor of SoBo’s popular Muchhad Paanwala despite his brush with the law

Tiwari was arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in January, 2021, for his involvement with a British National, Karan Sajnani, from whom Marijuana was seized. Sajnani, who was found involved in an international drugs supply chain, had Tiwari’s phone number on his call list

Mumbai: The demand for his whisker licking mouth freshners has not lessened, despite the family’s occasional brush with the law; and Muchhad Paanwala – Ramkumar Tiwari, who operates from his shop in Kemps Corner -- fields any query about such encounters smooth as slaps of slaked lime on a fresh betel leaf.

Mumbai, India - February 20, 2023: Ramkumar Tiwari paan shop owner of Muchhad Paanwala, at Kemps Corner, in Mumbai, India, on Monday, February 20, 2023. (Photo by Anshuman Poyrekar/ Hindustan Times) (Anshuman Poyrekar/HT PHOTO)

Glibness also tends to rub off when people habitually hobnob with the privileged for over three decades. The paanwala is as much a tourist attraction as some of SoBo’s historical sites.

Tiwari was arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in January, 2021, for his involvement with a British National, Karan Sajnani, from whom Marijuana was seized. Sajnani, who was found involved in an international drugs supply chain, had Tiwari’s phone number on his call list. Last week, his cousin Shivkumar Tiwari, was put behind bars for allegedly supplying banned e-cigarettes.

“A lot of time has been spent to build trust – all our clients trust us today. We would never dare to go on the other side of law. I would not like to comment on the present case as it is sub judice, although I hope he comes out clean,” said the worldly Tiwari.

Muchhad’s celebrity however sprung from working class ingenuity. His grandfather, Pandit Shyam Charan Tiwari arrived in Mumbai from Handia, in Prayagraj district, Uttar Pradesh, in 1961 to sell fruits. His father, Pandit Jaishankar Tiwari, a paan addict, who sold the goods in Chandani Chowk, Delhi, on a small plank tied to his neck, decided carry the trade forward in Mumbai.

The Tiwaris turning to selling fruits and paans on Mumbai streets was not taken too kindly by Muchhad’s great grandfather, Pandit Bansidar Tiwari, a school-teacher, who taught Urdu and Sanskrit in Prayagraj. His wrath led his paan seller grandson to slip into odd jobs, such as a housing society watchman in Kemps Corner, “which was more respectable”.

“We are Pandits. My great grandfather was very respected in the village. My father started selling paans from a small space provided to him by his father – he would mostly sell tobacco-less products and stuck to Kolkata meetha paan, Magai paan and Banarsi paan. He had a chain of suppliers from West Bengal and Gaya (Bihar),” said Tiwari.

Inventiveness was a game changer, and his paans were known for the use of dry fruits and fresh spices. “My father soon became popular. Today we have six branches–Khetwadi, Mumbai Central, Girgaum, Nepeansea Road and Colaba. All are operated by our family members,” said Tiwari.

The Kemps Corner stall employs over 15 workers.

Over time, Tiwari raised the bar and his clients are spoilt for choice with imaginative picks on offer -- Muchhad Ferrero Rocher paan, Muchhad brownie-gasm, Choco flight paan (stuffed with dry-fruits), Oreo baked cheesecake paan, Coconut ball paans and Jaipuria paan (with its signature hit of gulkand, menthol and aniseed).

“We have the best chocolate paans in the city. Our clients include A-list politicians, actors, industrialists and bankers,” Tiwari said beaming. “I am carrying on the tradition of tobacco-less paans that my father started.”

The prices range between ₹40 and ₹1,000. Tiwari set up his website in the ’90s and today the paans can be ordered through Zomato and Swiggy.

A traffic constable at Kemps Corner observed, “Though he opens his shop at 10 am, the shop is thronging with people and high-end cars till midnight.” People come from afar. Chetan Surana, a regular customer for over seven years, who works at a consumer electronics and durables chain in the vicinity, said, “Once you bite into his paans you will return for more. I pack them for my family in Mira Road.” Parmanand Vaswani, a banker, travels all the way from Andheri East where he works and lives, to Kemps Corner for it. “I have been doing this for the last 20 years. The dates and spices he uses are unique. He also serves the paan with great love, which draws my family here,” said Vaswani.

So, what’s behind the name ‘Muchhad’ for the shop and all the men of the family sporting spaghetti moustaches?

“It is a legacy from my great grandfather. Moustaches are a mark of responsibility in the righteous way and we are proud of it. Saadhus and rishis were known to have moustaches; so all of us have it,” said Tiwari.