One of the first things that I saw when I got off of the plane in Karachi the first time(I got a picture when we came back again) was this-
Personally I find Paan really really gross. I have the same reaction to chewing tobacco(some people put this in their Paan also). The Gori Wife wrote a really good post on Paan and its results here.
An alternative to Paan is Cheez. Cheez is what some people here call any type of small candy or small prepackaged snack.(This can mean hard candies, gummies, supari, etc.)
Here are some examples of Cheez-
the top(Elichi plus) and the top right(7 Star), both contain chalia(one of the things that is chewed with Paan).
Shahi Meva is my favorite kind of cheez(it has NO chalia, I don't like the stuff). It does contain-almond, dry dates,coconut,fennel, and sugar. Cheez generally costs PRs 1, and sometimes I give the DH a bunch of Rs and ask him to bring a handful of cheez for the baby, who now says "Cheez Please"
