It was once common to see Malayalis chewing paan after a heavy meal. As a boy I wondered where all the spittle came from when the chewer tried to spit the chewed paan, artistically, like spraying water through pipe. But the practice appears to have virtually vanished now, the bug of health consciousness having bit Malayalis hard.
The Malayali mixture of paan features betel leaves, areca nut, lime and tobacco. My grandma was a serious paan chewer, till her last breath. The metal box in which she would store the paan and her bronze spittoon were disposed of only recently. Watching her prepare the paan made for a great sight. She would hold a washed fresh betel leaf in her left palm and dexterously paint it with the slaked before rolling it up with broken betel nut and popping it into her hungry mouth with a pinch of tobacco to top it off. Sometimes her neighbours would give her company and soon the whole courtyard would be painted red with spittle.
With the influx of labourers from the Northeast and Tamil Nadu, paan-loving Malayalis have gotten a boost. The migrant labourers all chew paan masala vigorously. A short bus journey would suffice to prove how addicted some of them are to paan-chewing.
One day I was travelling in a private city bus with very few passengers. As there was nobody in the rear of the bus but for two paan-chewing youths engrossed in conversation, I chose to alight through the rear exit of the bus. There at the back door, I found the foot board had been painted with spittle by the youths.
In some city pockets, where labourers throng for daily recruitment, one can see red carpets of spittle. It is fascinating to see the men sharing paan and avidly consuming it as if they were at home. Different dirty paan masala wrappings would be taken out of baskets and opened by one by one to make the chewing more pleasurable, and spittle more colourful to look at.
We all have understood the resultant serious health hazards of spitting in the open after consuming so much paan. Diagnosis of health problems in growing numbers has disturbed the medical professionals. There are different theories as to why people persist in chewing paan, despite the health concerns. The immediate explanation is that paan is nothing but a refreshment of the mouth. But since so many mouth fresheners are available in the market, why go for one which could damage the mouth in the long run? A chronic chewer of paan also may have stained teeth and become open to ridicule. The Prime Minister's Swachh Bharat driver has done something tremendous in this respect and it is imperative we stop spitting in the open.
T K NANDANAN
nanduthejus@gmail.com