Tuesday morning, it's just 9.30 and the shop is crowded. It's surprising to see the otherwise late Puneites up so early! Could be so because Monday is a weekly off for the Chitale Bandhu Mithaiwale.

Located in the heart of Bajirao Road, the shop is spic and span with not a speck of dirt seen and not a fly in the vicinity! I have an interview scheduled with Mr. Shrikrishna Chitale, son of Mr. Raghunathrao Chitale the founder of the shop. On seeing me he takes me to his cabin which is a small yet neat cubicle sharing a part of the kitchen. A passing glimpse of the kitchen shows heaps of pedhas on the clean and shining floor while the shop tenders sitting cross-legged, are putting the pedhas in different sized packets, segregated in quantities of 500 grams and 1 kilos.

A soft-spoken gentleman in his late forties, Mr Shrikrishna reminisces about the days when his father started the shop way back in the 1950s. " It used to be a small shop then and was situated at Kunte Chowk. By 1956 the business flourished and the shop was moved to the present Bajirao Road location. We opened another branch in Deccan Gymkhana in the same year. My father's brother, my uncle, Mr. N.B. Chitale, also had a hand in the expansion".  When asked about the best selling products he replies,"Tons of Bhakarwadi and 250 kilos of pedhas are sold everyday. We not only have local customers but also cater to international customers who log on to our website". "We accept international cards and the money gets deposited in our banks. The item is then home delivered", he further continues. Though famous as Mithaiwale they also cater milk and dairy products.

A sister firm, Shivsantosh Dugdhalay takes care of these. Its market share today is 1.5 lakhs litres everyday!. The other dairy products like chakka, ghee and butter are also available at all the sweetshops.

With a smile he concludes, "We strive more on quality work rather than quantity. And we give a great importance to cleanliness because we believe cleanliness is next to godliness!"

The pricelist on the board reads:

Address: 777 Sadashiv Peth, Bajirao Road, Pune 411 030
Phone: 447 3268   
Shop Timings: 9am to 12 30 pm and 4pm to 8pm,
Mondays close

For more information log on to www.chitalemithai.com