PEDA OF BARMAJHIYA: A SWEET LEGACY
Myriads of colorful signboards appear on either side of the Mahendra Highwam as it passes through a small village of Barmajhiya in Saptari. Etched in big bold and bright letters, all of these signs endorse a legacy — that of the legendary ‘Bajeko Peda’ (vaguely translates to Grandfather’s soft milk fudge).
Like in other parts of the Indian subcontinent, Peda is a popular sweet delicacy in Nepal and nowhere in the country is it produced on such an overwhelming scale than in the market centre of Barmajhiya. Every shop makes and sells around 15- 30 kilos of the delicacy almost on a daily basis and each one of them claims to be the “original, oldest Bajeko Peda”.
The story behind the true identity of the Baje and how it came to be so popular, qualifies as the most straight-forward yet brilliant case study of branding and entrepreneurship.
The Baje in question is Baijanath Shah, the grandfather of 28-year-old Bibek Shah, who following the demise of the senior Shah is currently looking after the shop. There are several other vendors who use Baijanath’s name to lure in customers, but the original old man’s shop ‘Shree Baijanath Shah Peda Bhandar’ is located adjacent to the Armed Police Force Camp in Barmajhiya. It was opened about 28 years ago and since then has seen a surge in competition with other vendors that have emerged in the area.
Some are named ‘Purano Budako Peda Bhandar’, others ‘Asli Bajeko Peda Pasal’ and a great deal more with the words ‘Old, Original and Old Man’ appearing almost compulsorily. One such shop is owned by Manoj Kumar Shah. He has been selling the sought-after pedas for more than 10 years and while he doesn’t claim to be the true heir of late Baijanath, he has quite casually named his establishment ‘Om Baba Baijanathko Peda Pasal’.
“It’s his name that brings business. He is what represents our village and we are walking by the path he chose for us,” he remarks.
Every day, Manoj gets 350 litres of milk to make pedas. The demand is so high that the cattle of Barmajhiya and nearby villages don’t suffice anymore. “We order milk from Sunsari’s Koshi Tappu and Saptari’s Fattepur,” informs Manoj.
The households of Barmajhiya, even before its ties with pedas, were vastly dependent on its cattle. Being far from the main cities, the locals had a hard time selling milk to the city markets. In such a time, Baijanath came up with a solution — make pedas out of the abundant milk and the rest is history.
Even today, at the backyards of every vendor, are stables where cows and buffaloes gaze as confectioners churn pedas out of their milk. “It was a relatively easy solution and an even easier delicacy. All there is to it is buffalo’s milk and sugar,” explains Bibek.
However, not all vendors use the two aforementioned ingredients. Both Manoj and Bibek blame other vendors for using flour and biscuits to the mix. “There is a test to know which one is authentic. Just take a glass of water and pour the peda there. The original will stay on top of the water surface while those mixed with chemicals will shrink to the bottom of the glass,” shares Bibek. — Shaurya Kshatri
