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A 120-year-old sweet saga
Every corner of Secunderabad has a history of its own, be it the Clock Tower which was installed by the British to commemorate their achievements, the Lepakshi Emporium at Minerva Complex, which represents the art and culture of Telangana State or the statue of Mother Teresa near the Keyes High School, which is meant to pay respects to the departed soul.
Hyderabad: Every corner of Secunderabad has a history of its own, be it the Clock Tower which was installed by the British to commemorate their achievements, the Lepakshi Emporium at Minerva Complex, which represents the art and culture of Telangana State or the statue of Mother Teresa near the Keyes High School, which is meant to pay respects to the departed soul.
One such symbol of tradition and culture which stands still amidst the noisy crowd of Secunderabad is the 120-year-old Balaji Ratanlal Solapurwala Sweet house, and the oldest shop in the Twin Cities. The current proprietor of the sweet house Pramod Arora told The Hans India, “Balaji Ratanlal Sweet House was established in the year 1908, and it was the first sweet house in the Twin Cities. This sweet house was set up by my maternal grandfather Seth Ratanlal.”
He further adds, “When my grandfather set up the shop his ultimate objective was to deliver quality product and provided better quality of service to the customers and we are still following the tradition till date. This is the reason why we have customers who have been associated with us for 70 to 80 years long now.” All the family members of Ratanlal family are well-settled abroad as well as within the country; and the only reason they have been continuing the sweet house is that it is their first family business started by their grandfather and do not want to continue it as a mark of respect.
The shop has more than 70 to 80 varieties of sweets and about 25 different types of ‘Namkeen’ snacks which happens to be an all-time favourite of people living in Hyderabad. Some of the famous and mouth-watering sweet delicacies includes “son halwa (made of wheat flour, ghee and sugar), Kaju Barfi ,Dry fruit halwa and the kesar essenced jalebi.
The namkeen menu of the shop includes Masala Kachoori, Moong ki daal ki Kachoori and Samosas.” At an average about 200 customers visit the shop on a daily basis. The customers of this sweet house are spread locally, State-Wise and as well as across the globe. The prices of sweets start from Rs 300 and the highest price of the sweet in the shop is Rs 1,200. The shop witnesses a huge sale of sweets during the festive seasons like Diwali, Dasara, Raksha Bandhan and Ganesh Chathurthi.
Currently the sweet house has only one branch in Secunderabad. After the formation of sweet house in 1908, it was renovated in the year 1974 by late Anant Arora, the grandchild of Seth Ratanlal. Currently the shop is being looked after by Pramod Arora, Vinod Arora and Lalit Arora.
Apart from this, the family also involves themselves doing charity activities like donating for Help Age India, donations to temples and grain donation to old age home in Bhoiguda.
