While having Haldiram’s orange-flavored Soan Papdi today I
remembered how much I liked this sweet in my childhood. My grandmother used to
buy a packet for me whenever she returned home after visiting a relative. Soan Papdi vendors with red & white paper
boxes stacked on a tray are common sights in any mofussil bus terminus in Bengal. These boxes used to be priced at
two or three rupees; not sure how much they cost now. They were not of good
quality. But does a child care for quality? I remember my father once bought me
a packet from a big sweet shop, supposedly of better quality. What was the
occasion? May be after half-yearly or annual school exam. In those days our
cravings had to wait for appropriate occasions. My grandmother expired few years
back. Some fond memories, however, occasionally come back and I cherish those.
