Ma – I am off for the day
Why are you leaving the house empty stomach . Atleast have a mishti (sweet) .. This was when I was 29 and going out for a date . Not even date, it was courtship days with Madhushree .
Nostalgic Howrah Bridge
Growing up in West Bengal , at any point of time one cannot help but believe the fact that sweets are a remedy for everything . Literally everything . You have a stomach disorder – have mishti ( gorom rosogolla to be specific) , ready to go for exams ( boards and others) have a misthi, going for tuition classes – have mishti, come back home sweating like a pig on a hot humid summer day – have mishti, it helps to cool off.
Mishti for any reason and season
Mishti is the most respected , accepted gift between the Bengalis . Anytime is Mishti time . Any occasion is mishti occasion . All season is Mishti season . I don’t remember meeting any bengali formally without a packet of mishti . Marriage, rice ceremony, birthday, Dusserah, Holi, any occasion is incomplete without mishti and inevitably after these occasions, the refrigerator gets over flooded with mishti .
When served like this who would not like to have it
If the product is so close to heart, the manufacturer couldn’t be far off . Every corner of the neighborhood and locality had a couple of Mishtir dokan ( sweet shop). Each shop would have some delicacy of its own other than the universal Rosogolla . Low on hygiene parameters but high on personal touch and emotional connect . Most of the shop-owners would have seen you growing up, so buying sweets from the neighborhood was more than a mere transaction of money . Affectionate shopowner would at times give you small gujia and lil Mihidana for free if he was in a good mood .
Dharmotolla
These days they have Air conditioned sweet shops, regular innovations in sweets where only few evergreen hits from my childhood have been able to stand the test of time . More importantly now we also carry chocolates , fast foods , wine as gifts other than mishti .
Delicious Chocolate Sandesh
Sweet Handi.com is an initiative where they promise to ship handpicked sweets with much care and love just like your old neighborhood shop owner to any part of India . Watch out this space for more .
P.S. – This is an advertorial.
Pikturenama is a blog about our travel and food escapades along with stories to share through photography. 
