“Crazy” maybe… but oh so sweet


“Crazy” maybe… but oh so sweet
Diwali mithai: A chowkidar in Karachi

Piyush, a young IT professional working with Apple in California, recently hit upon an unusual way of reaching out to his online friends in Karachi.

For some time now, during discussions over Rakhi, Diwali, even New Year and his own birthday, Piyush, an IT professional from India based in the USA, had been promising to send mithai (sweetmeats) to them. On Sunday, November 9, he finally fulfilled his promise.

Piyush Badhani: Sharing the joy

Piyush: Sharing the joy

He got a friend in Karachi to talk to a popular mithai shop, Dacca Sweets. “Nothing online or through phone here. Those shop guys don’t even pick up the phone!”

He left an open invitation in a closed Facebook forum, and gave a tentative count to the sweets shop, sending money through Western Union to the friend in Karachi, who paid the mithai shop.

Two Dacca Sweets branches – in Bahadurabad, and Gulshan-e-Iqbal – participated in the initiative, distributing Sandes mithai for free to anyone who walked in and asked for “Diwali mithai from Piyush”.

If Piyush had been in India, they would have had to find another way to transfer the money to Pakistan. Until banks from each country open their branches on the other side as is being planned, there are no easy options.

His friend made the payment, having got the money from Piyush via Western Union. His friend made the payment, having got the money from Piyush via Western Union.There was an initial hiccup. Due to some miscommunication the mithai shop just gave away the sweets “to the first hundred people who walked in, which was a good thing, but I didn’t know. It happened before I could announce it to my friends,” says Piyush.

“I chose to do it this way since it doesn’t involve anyone having to share their address. Dukaan mein jao, mithai kha ke aao (go to the shop, eat your mithai) if you or your friends are in Karachi”.

All kinds of people, including a local cricket team, got mithai from Piyush.

“Considering the very few people I know there, it went well and was quite good,” he said happily.

Piyush grew up in a city near Mumbai, India. He had never met any Pakistanis until going to the USA in 2010, although he had several interactions with Pakistanis on online forums even before that.

His Diwali sweets gesture evoked a warm acknowledgement from a friend’s parents in Karachi:

“This is crazy,” they said in an audio file she sent to Piyush.

“Thank you so much for arranging this, this is a little unbelievable and again, crazy. We all had those sweets and loved them. Aapko bhi khushiyaan mubaarak hon.”

– Beena Sarwar




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