Karachi miswak finds many takers at Tauheed Ahmed’s shop in Ranchi last week. Picture by Prashant Mitra

Miswak, the teeth cleaning twig, is always in demand during Ramazan. But, this year, imported ones from Pakistan have pipped their Indian counterparts in Ranchi markets.

As compared to Indian miswak available at Rs 7 per stick, the ones brought from Karachi cost Rs 10. Still the faithful are buying them for their tenderness and fragrance.

On an average, over 1,000 Karachi miswak sticks are being sold in the state capital every day.

“Customers come and ask for Pakistani miswak because of its better quality,” said Tauheed Ahmed, the owner of Waheed & Sons, a shop near Daily Market.

The natural toothbrush-cum-paste is obtained from Salvadora persica, a tree popularly known as peelu in Pakistan and arak in Arab nations. The twigs are collected from the forests and brought to Karachi and other big cities of Pakistan, where they are soaked in rose water, cut into small pieces, packed and sent to markets all over the world.

“On an average every year, we stock 20,000 of such twigs brought from Karachi. There are many small roadside kiosk owners who also purchase from us and do brisk business,” Ahmed said.

One such kiosk owner near Urdu Library, Md Imtiaz, echoed Ahmed.

“My customers only ask for imported miswak as it can be used for an entire month without loss of fragrance. In comparison, Indian miswak is hard and generally cannot be used after 10 days,” he said.

The Indian variety is usually brought from Delhi. The person who buys the twigs has to soak it in water for 20 minutes to soften them before use. “But, the Pakistani miswak are naturally tender,” Imtiaz pointed out.

Apart from Indian and Pakistani miswak, the faithful also use neem twigs to prevent bad breath during fasting.

Those who cannot afford miswak, depend on neem twigs, which are available at Re 1 per piece. “Everyone cannot purchase imported miswak. So, they use neem, which is quite hard and bitter in taste, but serves the purpose” said another kiosk owner, Mohammed Ramazan.

The teeth-cleaning twigs contain natural antiseptics that kill harmful microorganisms in the mouth, tannic acid that protects gums and aromatic oil that increases salivation.