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The green bottle with the fizz
AN OPAQUE green soda bottle with blue marble stopper to hold back the fizz . That is the `Goli Soda' bottle for you. As ubiquitous as the coconut palm trees, the bottle was part and parcel of the pan-shop culture in the State.
Row upon row of `goli soda' bottles once filled the wooden racks in front of the panshops forming a sharp and beautiful contrast to the bunches of bright yellow and red coloured plantains suspended above.
The plantains are still there, but the `Goli Soda' bottles have almost disappeared from the lime stained racks. In their place are plastic bottles holding branded fizz. Colas, plastic bottled fizz and club sodas in featureless glass bottles have come to replace the `goli sodas' of old. The beautiful bottle, with its strange curves and the suspended marble holding the effervescent carbonated water down, has rarely failed to evoke wonder and curiosity in many as children. Press the marble down with the dedicated wooden opener, and the soda bottle opens with a pop. A squeeze of lemon, a helping of sugar and a pinch of salt, one could have the most cost- effective and instant oral dehydration solution from the panwallah. With the `goli soda' gone, the old pan shop culture has changed. The lemon-soda mix is not aggressively marketed as before. Fresh juices, ice-cream flavoured soda and chilled colas rule the roost.
But the soda bottles that have almost disappeared from the pan-shop racks are resurfacing elsewhere. For instance, in the bars of heritage hotels, home made soda is bottled in the old `goli' bottles to add to the ethnic ambience.
The bottles have also aroused curiosity in foreign tourists. In some tourists spots, the bottle is sold as a curio for Rs. 200 and upwards. Private collectors, interior designers and architects are also seeking out these bottles in large numbers.
By G. Anand
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Life
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Hyderabad
Kochi
Madurai
Thiruvananthapuram
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