Chhedi Prasad Gupta: Paan se Samman

When Chhedi Prasad Gupta migrated four hundred kilometers from Belpania village in Chhapra, Bihar to Ranchi, he had no ambition to get a chowk popularly known by his name in the new city. And that his small paan shop in Chhedi Gumti Chowk would expand into a grocery and vegetable shop. Lack of opportunity in his village forced Chhedi to search for avenues for livelihood. Life in Ranchi was never easy too. He sold murmura (puffed rice) and boiled eggs on the streets of Ranchi as a hawker for about three years. “I knew being a street hawker would not lead me anywhere. Running a family with two sons and a daughter by selling murmura and eggs appeared depressing. I was earning so little that even a small illness in the family would wipe off my savings,” recalls Chhedi, who always dreamt of providing a better life to his family. After saving for a few years, Chhedi gathered the courage to start a paan shop in the then deserted place in Hinoo area of Ranchi. His shop was different from others in a way that it also sold dhania patta and aloo-pyaaz . Soon, Chhedi's social orientation won hearts of people in the vicinity. With the growth in population of the area, his business also grew. Both his sons, Mithilesh and Awadhesh, joined him in the business and his daughter got married. Talking about how he identified the business opportunity, he shares, “I don't know how I managed to expand and establish my small business. I just started with a lot of self-belief, hard work and blessings of God. Humko kuch karna tha to hum bas kar diye.”