Paan Masala

Our Paan Masala design holds a special place in our hearts, it was one of the inspirations for Desirage itself and was one of our first ever designs released here. It started off as a joke until someone said, “that would be a funny shirt” - the rest is history. It became an instant hit in our Humor section where it is available on a variety of different products including shirts, hoodies, tanks, and more.

Originally just text, which we thought wasn’t Desirage enough, we subsequently added the paan leaf. Then we thought, a reference to paan is no reference at all without the nasty spit that comes along with it so we added the instantly recognizable reddish hued splatter to complete the design.

Seen almost everywhere in India, Paan doesn’t have a very good reputation these days (because the spitting has become more of a public nuisance), but it wasn’t always the case. Most people don’t know that Paan was once served to royalty and eating it became an elaborate cultural custom and was considered a ritual of the utmost sophistication. No, really. Maybe that one uncle of yours that always smells like it and talks weird really isn’t so bad after all!

Paan was also the inspiration for our I’m All Out of Paan design you may also enjoy.