As the hill stations grew, there was an expansion in trade, and it was often the much-detested banias from the plains who rushed in to avail themselves of new opportunities.
Both communities were providing stiff competition to the patels and banias of Gujarat.
Also indispensable in the making of Indian Opinion was Gandhi's nephew Chhaganlal, who was assigned a bania's duties of keeping the accounts and collecting the advertisements.
The campsite favourably located next to the bania boasted bird- and frog-song, accompanied by the splashing of a gentle brook.
Look at the subject: the milkman, the barber, the priest, the unbiquitous paan vendor, the artisan, the crafty bania.