Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Chocolates and candies

The supermarket, sweet shops and even the medical store and the pan shop near my house stock and sell imported chocolates like ferroro-rochers, hershey’s and nestle. All these come in exotic flavors jacketed in enticing and enchanting glossy wrappers. Needless to say, at exorbitant rates.

The children of today sink in their teeth into expensive chocolate bars,but they don’t have the pleasure of experiencing the lip smacking wispy,cream colored soan papdi , panju mittai (cotton candy) jeera mittai ( sugar coated cumin), eli mittai ( sugar coated peanuts and laced with color) , kamarcut (made with jaggery and coconut gratings)jujubes ( fruit flavored gummy candies). We used no sanitisers and most of them would come hygienic.

Way back in the 70’s and 80’s when I was a child, There used to be a hawker pedaling on the streets of kutcheri road in mylapore ( My grand parents place) in his specially designed tricycle which held a petromax light, a huge dome shaped glass jar and a brass bell which would go ding….ding…. ding… to announce his arrival.

Past 10 in the night, I and my cousins would rush out of the house to buy those wispy, cream colored sweet called soan papdi.(they were not held together like Haldiram fudges you get today). He would pull out a small amount of it and place it on a square piece of paper all for just 20paise then. After being satisfied with our share, we would rush to the terrace of our patti’s house to sit on the stone bench and relish the sweet under the star spangled sky and try catching the beam of the lighthouse which came with every rotation.

Hmmmm… the wispy soan papdi would simply melt in our mouth like snow……the sweet costless luxuries were simply divine which no hershey’s or Mars can match.

And all those cotton candy's that I ate at the exhibition, cubbon park and Lalbagh. The wide circular machine used to keep running and the stick kept in the middle would be rolled into a pink flossy candy.It would leave behind a rose pink color on your tongue and I and my sis would go around asking every body if our lips and tongue have turned pink. Oh!those were such sweet days.

Sadly, the children of today know not of such sheer bliss and miss such simple pleasures.

Of course, we too have had our share of Cadbury five stars, nutrine and parle products but those native mittais are a different taste altogether.

10 comments:

  1. in this age of globalization kids are just crazy about Pizza... Burgar... n that sort of junks....

    BTW the hawker's episode reminded me of my childhood things....it was so good insisting for each n every thing coming at the door step...:D

    very true it, was a different taste all together...

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  2. ooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhh oh my oh my you bring back memoris of yummy things ... son papdi .. and the kulfi falooda and the melting of cototn candy yummmy yummy yummy .. Oh man i can go on and on and on on about it
    NOW I WANT SOME .. where do i get that in UK all ur fault AB kya karoon main :) he he hehe

    Bikram's

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  3. what is life without soan papdi and kamarkat!!

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  4. Ya, those are mitta times that will no longer turn. Nowadays, kids are limited to sweet due to awarness of heriditary diabetics of those parents who enjoyed all these funs.

    Hamsamalini Chandrasekaran,
    www.women-wisdom.com

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  5. @ hamsamalini - more than hereditary it is acquired diabetics that dominates due to wrong life style.

    @ sushant jain - Yes, i too agree as long as we don't lose our identity.

    @uma - absolutely!

    @bikramjit- hop on to the next flight to India. :)

    @ irfanuddin - yes, you are right about the junk. It needs moderation.

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  6. Well,this turned out to be a sweet post of yours :P

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  7. haiiiooo..chaancela...naan sakkarai poatu kudutha etha venumnaalum saapduven. Neenga ennoda ella fav sweetsaiyum nyabaga paduthi ututeenga:)echuseme...ur post i my sidebar add? updates theria matenguthu

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  8. Yes those are days of another era. But it is fun to go back in time and relish those unforgettable moments of our lives. Life was so much simple.

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  9. Hey where can i buy Asha Chocolates? Still they are available in Market? Please let me know if any one have idea..?

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