When i went to Pakistan for my wedding , I met some of the family buzrugs for the first time .. one of them is like 90 years old mashallah and she showed me her paan daan
you know , that thing they used to have in old times , which would hold all their paans ..
I kind of felt it was absolutely stunning … so I requested her to give it to me … now i dont know where to decorate it in my new house .. It kind of relates to the previous generation … like an antique , you dont see a paan daan in use these days do you … so recomend me a good place for it please
I have my Nani's paan dan,which she was given on her wedding so it is an antique.I just keep in on a side table,at an angle together with another small silver container.
Most of the buzurgh ladies in my family still own paan dans,and sit there cutting chaaliya with a 'sarota'.
ohhh my god Charmed , i thought i was the only one .. so glad you responded
yeah its actually a whole set , the buzrug lady explained that one is the box which has like four divisions and the paan ingredients are kept in them separately … one is the preparation tray … that is the most classy tray i have seen … and finally is the box which holds the prepared paan ..
its all silver, and I want it to have a special place .. i have been thinking of putting in real paans … and some sonf and maybe some coconut powder in the preparation box and the container … it will look so real …
and i am thinking of placing it on the fire place … does the idea strike or not?
hmm...well if you want it purely for decor purposes that sounds good. i've also seen people just putting the paandaan in a corner of the room above just a round rug and put small floor cushions around it. if u wanna use in everyday life maybe u could put in sonf and even like almonds, cashews, etc to snack on and place it in some sort of a hallway or something that connects your kitchen to the dining room or a hallway that connects dining room to living room? you know just like a convenient little snack-stop for all your guests on their way to/from the dining room?
When you say ‘fireplace’,do you mean on the hearth bit or the mantel?..if the former,then yes,it’s a great idea.it will make a fantastic focal point and you must put things in it too.
My nani used to say ‘you must use it’, and as pkgrl says you can put all sorts in it.When we have people round I keep it open and have some paans ready made with chaalya and elachis so guests can help themselves.And I never ever polish it.It is a bit dingey looking,but that’s how it looked when I got it.It still has a bit of katha stains from when my khala washed it.
Fireplace sounds nice..you can also see if it works in the dining area, you know if you have a nice china cabinet, the showcase type you can place it in the center or some other nice point in your dining area..
If you want to make it usable like by adding pan masala/suparis etc you can put it on your coffee table as well in the living room
yes absolute lovely ideas ladies … my only concern is , since neither me nor husband eat paan … if i put the real ones , are they gonna go off every few days and i might have to keep throwing them off and putting new ones there ..
Wow … thats very valuable info charmed … i am glad I found out about the life of the paan , I was secretly planning to keep ordinary leaves wrapped up , as a short cut to paan … but since we dont want people eating nakli paan , I guess i will have to find someone who knows how to make one :hinna:
My friend’s mum has a paan daan…so she usually does the honours for me,as I have no idea about soaking the katha and choona.
But you know what…I like the idea of naqli paan;)…make it up with a leaf and secure as usual with a clove and voila!..a ready made paan.Just for decoration,you know:hehe:
I love paan daan's. If you're going to use it for real paans then yes they'll go off very quickly, so would save that for guests. For daily use I'd just put caradamoms, saunf, supari etc in it. For real paans you can buy chuna redy made, for katha you can buy slabs dry and boil it til it softens and thickens.
oh my God! i wish i'd seen this while i was in karachi! i would have brought back my dadi's paan daan! damn. those things are gorgeous- my dadi's was all chandi. i would have polished it up and used it to keep jewellery. all those compartments inside are perfect for that kind of stuff.
.. It kind of relates to the previous generation … like an antique , you dont see a paan daan in use these days do you … so recomend me a good place for it please 
… and finally is the box which holds the prepared paan ..
… my only concern is , since neither me nor husband eat paan 
its a great thing to have , hai na … so where have you decorated it then?