It takes a lot for a small business like Kasthamandap Bhandar in Maru Chowk to be continuously in opera­tion for nearly 60 years. This Maari Pasal that sells Nepali and Newari sweets bustles with customers in the morning. The smell of warm sel roti (traditional sweet, ring-shaped bread) greets you as you enter. “This is our fam­ily business, which used to be run by our grandfather,” says Gambir Rajkarnikar, the current proprietor. “Though we sell many kinds of sweets, our focus is on sel and malpuwa.” Their sel is so popular that people from as far as Dakshinkali and Thankot come to get them.

“Usually, we prepare sel using mainly wheat and rice flour, from 6:30 am to 10 am in the morning,” he says. The great­er availability of new products in the market such as cookies and biscuits has hampered the sales of traditional food like sel, malpuwa and gwaramari (round bread). “Not so much though,” informs Rajkarnikar. “Because sel is a cultural food, its value is intact,” he asserts. Especially during the Newari Mha Pooja, sales are high as its use is mandatory for making mandaps. Also, those who visit different homes singing Deusi and Bhailo during Tihar are traditionally greeted with sel, sweets and money.

With Tihar approaching, business is in full swing. “Compared to other times, the sales of sel increases by 60-70 percent during Tihar. We are planning to make sel from around 6 am to 5 pm, every day, during the festival. We want it to be fresh and because we never keep stock, we need to keep making it round the clock,” he informs. Sel costs Rs 10 apiece at the store but during Tihar, they increase its size and sell it at Rs 20-Rs 40. “We can make sel as big as the customers want,” Rajkarnikar says.

Many people used to make sel at home. But they have perhaps realized, he says, that the time and money involved in making it is just not worth it and so they prefer to purchase. “But in some houses, they still make sel at home as they want it to be ‘pure’ for pooja,” he reveals.

The market of sweets in Kathmandu is changing. A lot of people have entered this business and sel is now even sold commercially in department stores such as Bhat-Bhateni. “We are not competing against other similar businesses though,” Rajkarnikar adds. “We focus on our own product. People know they can have freshly prepared sel here so sales remain robust.”