Welcome to the world of kuchi mittai and kuruvi rotis

Heard about it somewhere???kuchi mittais and kuruvi rotis???this post is all about that.

There are few things that i was crazy about when i was a kid.

TUBE Pepsi:
I wonder how many know about this divine…this amrit. This is definitely not manufactured by PEPSI Co. Colorful liquids (meaning varying flavours, hardly matters) available in tubes in two defined shapes and sizes. There are two varieties of tube Pepsi. One is the ice Pepsi and other one is the milk Pepsi. It gives you a heavenly feeling. Leave those beverages, this product puts you into great addiction.

You pay 50 Paise for the ice Pepsi, you get the small tube. 1 re for the large ones and largest cost you Rs.2/-. We never miss going to school for this one reason. We get tube Pepsi near our school. My gang was one reason for the shopkeeper to expand his shop. When there is an economic depression (particularly comes end of the month), we expect sponsors from affluent girls or settle down with one 50 Paise ice Pepsi. A person who drinks Paal Pepsi (milk pepsi) daily is considered the most affluent among the gang. There was girl named karthika I remember who drinks this Paal Pepsi almost everyday. So we keep loads and loads of ice on her to get sponsors (during month ends). Mostly our birthday treats are like getting Pepsi for all our close friends. Spend some ten bugs, they are content and so you are.

My strict advice for People with less immunity, never go for it. I tell them that you might end up suffering from diseases like Typhoid, Jaundice and other communicable diseases.

Best way to have Pepsi is to first make a small hole in the upper left corner of the Pepsi tube and starting extracting the contents slowly. That’s how you reach the doors of heaven. I drink it almost everyday. Never mind if I have cold, sinus, wheezing, I never tend to miss this divine. Such a pleasure in having tube Pepsi for just 50 Paise.

Most important of all is that our parents don’t know that we are having this divine everyday coz there are chances of us losing our pocket money of Re.1/day. Parents mostly prevent us from drinking this. Well I must ask them one thing, were they drinking milkshakes and fruit juices when they were young??? They would have been worse than this. Yet they do not allow us to drink. So we hold the Pepsi in kerchief and drink see that no one notices us. My mom is aware of it, yet I manage to get a Re/day by giving her fake reasons. Its worth all this effort.


KAMAR KATTU:
I saw these kamar kattu (stuff made out of jagery and groundnuts) in shops here neatly packed in a famous departmental store in Chennai. It took a long time for me to realize. Who needs all that? You spend some ten paise, get it from the local petty shop finish it before you reach home. There lies the thrill.

These stuffs are usually available in square shape placed in packet kept hanging in front of the shop to attract customers like me. Again there is a THADA for kamar kattu at home by elders because it is kept in open air and they say “No kutti(ya don’t mind) you are susceptible to infections”. My blood would boil if my parents talk about their childhood experience of getting money, i mean oru aana rendaana to buy these kamar kattus. But if you eat it, they are mad at you. Best thing is to hide it from them and eat it in their absence or finish it in the shop and go home as a goody girl (That is what I do most of the time, I sometimes go to the back yard of my house. there are times where I have been caught red handed by my sister. Anyways who cares???).


THAEN MITTAI: (the honey candy):
I proudly present the next product Thaen mittai. Yummyyy!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Delicious. My mouth waters at the site of these candies. Again available in same packets hung outside the shops. The colors of these candies differ from dark yellow to dark orange. Price varies from Ten Paise to Twenty paise depending upon the size. They are round in shape, with mildly hard crust, very soft core and the mantle is filled with honey (mouth watering even now, Thaen mittai where are you??? I am coming). Very famous among kids. I once upon a time hated it to the core though I am a big fan of it now. I searched for Thaen mittai in lots of places, but couldn’t find anywhere. Kind attention to People reading my blog, you can take attempts to get me Thaen mittai.


WATCH MITTAI:
Watch mittai was a sensational hit because the candy resembled a wrist watch. For kids, who were denied even a balloon kaaran watch which costed about Rs.5/-, this is the best option. Watch mittai is very colorful, the centre of it resembles dial of wrist watch. It has two strings attached to either side so if you are not really interested in eating the candy, you can tie it in Ur hand like watch.

Watch mittai is the costliest mittai available among the group. Costed about 1Re and 50 paise (that’s equivalent to 3 coffee bites, 3 caramilk chocolates). Watch mittai is made of sugar and nothing but sugar. Highly demanding during Thiruvizhaas. Because every kid aspires to get this somehow and show uttufy infront of other kids.

You should be very careful with watch mittai. If you happen to go in sun with this watch mittai tied in your hand, then the sugar starts to melt giving an itchy-pitchy feeling on your skin or sometimes negligence can lead you to become a victim of ant bites.

No exception to watch mittais as well. Again banned at home but we somehow cajole mom by saying “Amma come on, am just goin to tie it in my hand for sometime and throw it.” When Amma goes other side, only string of the mittai remains and you burp with a naughty look on your face.


WHITE&PINK KUCHI MITTAI:
I bet nothing can beat the taste of this white and pink kuchi mittai. Again an indigenous variety available in packets hung in the shop. What a taste it has? Spend ten paise it can leave you speechless for sometime. You will get engrossed in its taste. Again a banned variety because, parents feel covered lollypops makes sense… Who cares??? White and pink kuchi mittai was another reason apart from tube pepsi for ruining my kajaana. (for ignorant people this kajaana is nothing but a small box consisting of coins ranging from 5 paise to 1 Re obtained by singing in various houses during navarathiri, varalakshmi nombu etc).


BALLI MITTAI:
Origin of the name: Lizard’s eggs, coz they resemble the size and shape of lizard’s egg. What an innovation?? Balli mittai are the most economical mittais... 2 for 5 paise I guess. That’s the standard measure. Balli mittai are simple sugar candies... Dint impress me much coz I always had a nasty feeling about it due to its shape and size resembling a lizard’s egg.


ELANTHA PODI:
This innovative invention created a wave of happiness among my friends. I endorsed this to all and they became immediate fans. Elantha podi available in small packets…stuck to paper pads, neatly packed. This is the only product which was allowed at home. 20 paise/packet. So bloody tasty. They make you addicts. Not advisable beyond 5 packets (Evlo kammi pa) a day because they generate a lot of heat in your body. Believe me to get this packet, I have to walk to that shop for about 20 min. I had determination to eat atleast 5 packets a day and that let me to the destination.

These were the things that brought priceless happiness in me without much price. Now, I earn a lot of money visit coffee pubs. Order a coffee for 50 bugs, pay 100 bucks for a sandwich. Load it and leave. What happiness do I ultimately get from all this??? We have money but we seldom enjoy our food. Those days, we had time but not enough money to buy whatever we needed, yet we were extremely happy with what we had. I know dough nuts and chocolate fantasy are tasty but nothing can beat the satisfaction kamar kattus and kuchi mittais gave me. I know sweet lime soda and milk shakes are delicious but nothing can quench my thirst like the tube pepsi. I cherish those moments in life where I found happiness in anything and everything. Priceless moments, priceless memories

4 comments:

Arvind Devalla said...

Thanks a million for that post! Nostalgic!

I was transported to those days of 3rd and 4th standard! My faves were then mittai and pepsi.

The taste and happiness you get in eating at a roadside kai endhi bhavan cannot be even compared to a 20 dish buffet!

Life is beautiful when it is simple.

Sriram said...

Very nice post Deepa.. I am one of them who was born in 80s and I too enjoyed all these during my school days :)

din said...

brought me back my school day memories where i use to have all these :) paneer soda was one of the other i use to drink when ever i get more money 2rs and 50paise :) thanks for the blog. I use to get 3 mittais for 5 paise that time, i use to fill my pockets with that since i could have them all the time in school. crazy days!!!

Dark Shadow said...

Thanks for the post Deepa, I went back to my school days, where I could buy that 2rs Mota Ice (ye we use to call it that way), it was the higher end version of the pepsi Ice and the one who buys it is leader :-p. ANd the thean mittai thing, there was a manufacturing unit in our locality at those times and they use to give away the damaged ones' (the ones' that are not good for packing) for less price. Golden days they were....