Bante wali bottle, a refreshing summer treat, all-time wonder

SPICE OF LIFE: Had somebody asked me during those impressionable years to name the Seven Wonders of the World, my first guess would have been, “Bante wali bottle!”

The unassuming and distant cousin of the upmarket fizzy drinks sits humbly on the wheeled cart of the nimbupaaniwalla with citrusy and minty whiffs afloat in the air from the strategically placed yellow lemons and green mint leaves. The sight of the transparent bante wali bottle brings back effervescent memories of childhood when quenching one’s thirst at the roadside rehri was a sublime practice.

The sight of the transparent Codd-neck bottle brings back effervescent memories of childhood when quenching one’s thirst at the roadside rehri was a sublime practice. (Representational image)

While stuck in a traffic jam, one afternoon, my drifting eyes beheld a familiar yet forgotten sight of the Codd-neck bottle, with a marble to block its mouth, displayed on a roadside cart. It sat there trying to lure passers-by with its pristine charm; charm which has been shadowed by the likes of high-end carbonated drinks that come with catchy jingles and vibrant advertisements.

I hardly remember seeing or hearing any commercial that has promoted the eclectic bante wali bottle also known as Goli Soda and yet it has survived the onslaught of time and change of taste or habits. In times when soft drink makers are spending billions on flashy advertisements demonstrating the biggest names of Hollywood and Bollywood guzzling down bottles of the artificially flavoured drinks; the modest bante wali bottle remains unsung despite its ability to quench one’s thirst on a par with its branded cousins.

My fondest memories of the bante wali bottle co-exist with the annual ritual of spending the summer vacation at my maternal grandparents’ house in Jaitu. The house was nestled in the middle of a row of houses built on one side of a busy street. The opposite end was inhabited by shopkeepers and stall owners. On our arrival, somebody was despatched to fetch chilled bottles from the vendor. The curious child in me never failed to be amazed at the creation of the bottle’s unique structure. Endlessly, I tried to figure out how the manufacturer managed to insert a marble in the bottle’s neck and how I could retrieve the marble from the neck without breaking it. Had somebody asked me during those impressionable years to name the Seven Wonders of the World, my first guess would have been, “Bante wali bottle!”

In summer, the vendors either stationed their carts outside the railway or bus stations or pushed them into narrow lanes to reach out to those who longed for something refreshing to mollify the heat or something tantalising to tickle their taste-buds. The drink was also served with equal fanfare depending on the demand. Some customers preferred to gulp it directly from the bottle where others preferred it poured out in a glass garnished with fresh mint and assorted with a dash of lemon and a sprinkle of rock salt to enhance its flavour. For those who wished to drink from the bottle, the man would oblige by propelling the marble blocking the mouth of the bottle into its constricted neck with the help of an ice pick and all this he did nonchalantly with the flair of the modern-day bartender.

The diffident bante wali bottle is struggling to sustain itself in a world of cut-throat competition. However, I still sense a bond with it as it’s one of the few things that remind me of the innocent pleasures of childhood. sonrok15@gmail.com

The writer is an Ambala-based college teacher