" I had a paan shop near Sweekar hotel in 1992. But that was just an umbrella, the usual paan shop! The customers for that kind of thela were only men. This paan shop is designed keeping family in mind," says Sharad More, owner of Shaukeen. And needless to say that this is a successful experiment. This is one place where the whole family can go together! The interiors of the shop, the menu and the name, all of this is entirely designed by More and Vijay Nandgaonkar, a friend.

And then there are so many varieties of paans! From the meetha masala paan that starts with Rs 6 to the Phulchand maghai paan for Rs 55, this modern day paanwala has a mouth-watering menu. The most tempting of all the creations remains the chocolate paan, a recipe created by the owner himself. " This is a maghai paan which is later dipped into chocolate sauce and then refrigerated," he says, offering one to the customer. The Shaukeen special masala paan includes dry fruits, chutneys of five different types and a special golden warkh.

"I like hygiene and I wanted to maintain it in my shop. In a paan tapri, because of lack of space, there is a lot of compromise on quality and cleanliness. But here I can take care of the customers health as well," adds More, as he takes you through his workshop. Systematically decorated trays of paans of all types are sold not only in Pune but in areas surrounding the city as well!