Friday, March 10, 2006

Happiness. 100% pure. No sugar added.

I don't like carbonated drinks.

Don't like coke, don't like pepsi.

So when I read somewhere that each can of these drinks contains about ten teaspoons of sugar, I went "Muahahaha!" :D

Ooops, hang on, but I like Thums Up.

But then, according to me, Thums Up is not a carbonated beverage. For me, Thums Up is 'my childhood in a bottle'. I grew up in India drinking copious amounts of four drinks - Thums Up, Maaza, pani-puri ka pani and ganne ka ras (sugarcane juice).





















Two weeks back, I went to
Bombay Cafe with a friend. A place I go to for the world's best gobhi manchurian and Thums Up.

Yes, they have the world's best Thums Up. (Don't ask.)


Bombay Cafe is the only place in Singapore that carries Thums Up. In a bottle, no less. Could this be any more Yeay?! But it is in the opposite end of the country. Yeah yeah, I know Singapore is only 40 km wide, but it is still the opposite end of the country from where I live. And yet, I travel across the entire country for my Thums Up.

So that day, when the waiter told me they were out of Thums Up, I went "WHAT??? No Thums Up? You have no Thums Up????"

They did not have Maaza either. I was getting more and more disappointed and frustrated. Finally, I decided that I had to have pani puri ka pani at least. So I ordered a plate of 6 pathetic pani puris, (they cost a dollar each, and I was thinking of the old days when we got five pani puris for 1 rupee!). It was the worst pani puri I had ever had! Even the mineral water pani puris I'd had in Delhi last year suddenly seemed better.

So I grumpily dug into my gobhi manchurian without Thums Up and without Maaza and without pani puri ka pani.

After dinner, we decided to go to the beach. Guess I really needed that. Lately I hadn't had any time to go chill at the beach, something that I used to love to do once upon a time, when I was living in the east and did not have one and a million assignments to finish over the weekends.

We must have walked for miles and miles along the beach. Suddenly I realised I was so thirsty I was gonna drop dead. The problem was that we had wandered off to a place where there were no drinks stalls or shops, only restaurants. So we went to this seafood restaurant if we could buy only a takeaway drink. The lady agreed and so we paid $2.10 for the only drink they had - a measly can of diet coke. But I was so thirsty anything would have done.

But coke, and that too diet coke?

Suddenly it felt like nothing was right with the world.


Not feeling very happy about having to settle for coke, we walked further along the beach, and suddenly my eyes lit up.

There it was, a sugarcane juice stall! A sugarcane juice stall!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Barely able to contain my excitement, I hopped like a kid and bought my tall glass of sugarcane juice with a slice of freshly cut lime in it.

Pure delight for only $1.50.


And suddenly, everything in the world was all right.

Thank goodness happiness is so low-maintenance.



31 comments:

R said...

me first!!!!!!
finally!
yay!!!!!!!1


ROS you watching????
heheh

Neha Sinha said...

yeyyyyyyyyyyyyy..me first.
gold to me :D

Neha Sinha said...

shit shit...!!
nevermind..silver 2 me :D
@moonwalker
me watching too :((

R said...

I just had pani puriz!!!!!
atleast 10!
*smug luk*
The yummiest pani puri ka pani!!
*anuther very satisfied luk*
and then..
we had chaat...
the yummiest chaat evah!
*anuther bherry bherry satisfied luk*

hahahahahah
mein thodi evil hoti jaa rahi hoon!!
wat is the world cuming to????
*evil laffter*

p.s. i think pani puri ke paani mein alcohol tha..that wud xplain loadz.

Neha Sinha said...

and i can all ..anything at anytime...:D

thumps down..thrrrupt :P:P

R said...

@pandora-----awwwww...arre naah re!
i gather tu toh chotu si hai!!!
leh le ,tu mera gold leh le :)

Neha Sinha said...

btw..bronze mera hai:D

mail kar doon thumps up +pani puri+.....u'll not have to have to travel to the other part of singa'puri'..;)

Neha Sinha said...

@ moonwalker

ahaa...man khush hua..par u know main swawlambi type insaan hoon! apne pairon par khadi hongi...so i'll hit bak nxt time :D

waise if u r so much insisting toh main le leti hoon ;)

Anusha said...

Bronze! Muahahahaha! >:) (I'm ignoring the looong convo between the other two for now! :P)

Odd. I always thought it was 'Thumbs Up'. Makes more sense too. What on earth do they mean by 'Thums Up'? :/

I remember the times the Salman(?) ads came on TV. Everybody who drank Pepsi and Coke was called a 'baccha' for such a loooong time after! 'Bacchon ka drink', hee! I used to get mightily pissed cuz I never liked Thums Up. X-(

And just something I learned from science projects back in school - Sprite, 7-Up and the likes are bad, Coke, Pepsi and Thums Up are worse and Fanta, Mirinda types are the worst. They contain more of some harmful substance or something (yeah, yeah...I slept during all those exhibitions! Stop laughing!)Advice of the day - avoid colourful carbonated drinks! :P

Sugarcane juice!! Back at home during the December hols, dad and I went out to buy veggies and on the way, he bought me some really yum sugarcane juice for 10 bucks! Me miss Dad! And sugarcane juice!! :'(

Macho Girl said...

I also thought it was "thumbs" up...
I used to like it once upon a time.. then the advertisements kinda put me off with the whole "bachon ka drink nahi hai" thingy and a topless Salman Khan. They just made it seem unappealing.

Now i have started craving for pani puri!!!! :( i was ok all these days! Why did u do this to me??? why? WHY? i can almost smell pani puri right now! And i think i can almost taste it!! ARGH!

ah... just 2 more months to get back home... then i shall feast on all the desi stuff i crave for :D

Manish Kumar said...

these kind of incidents makes one nostalgic abt home sweet home.
itni choti choti khushiyon ko pane mein bhi itni fazeehat
Thank goodness happiness is so low-maintenance.

well said:)

Kaala Kavva said...

Ohhh!! thumsup rocks!!!
thumsum = ( pepsi + coke ) * 1000

and wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ganne ka joos!!!!!!!!!!
wowwwwwwwwwwwwwww

R said...

I loooove Coke.
I loooove Ganne ka juice.

I was on a rural exposure trip with the organisation I used to work, and I got a chance to visit Chitrakut (Border of MP & UP.) The villagers there served ganne ka juice with everything. EVERYTHING! Breakfast, lunch, dinner. And I stayed there for five days. :D They have another kind.. They add cardomom and ginger to the 'ganne ka ras'. It must sound horrible...But it was fabulous!

Anonymous said...

Wow.....am glad for the sugarcane juice stall. It sure saved the day! Seems like magic...like that was there just for you! :-)

Walks on the beach....heaven! :-)
Have u ever come out to the beach early mornings Sash? It's absolutely lovely. I truly miss the beach here.

Pujya said...

muhaa...i love sugar cane juice.. right in front of my univ we get gaane ka rass for 5rs BIG JUMBO glass..with adrak and nimbu in it..yummy!!!
and oh ya..we also get good pani puri ka paani right there next to jumbo glass ..and he give 10 puris for 5 bucks...

ah..heaven it seems...

Suds said...

Hey Sayesha I am from Mumbai and lived my whole life in Colaba area. If u ever go to Mumbai and visit Gateway of India. There is a gaanne ka juice wala. His Varanasi glass is amazing it is huge and 1 is enough for lunch. Great stuff.

Ofcourse there is nothing like Pani puri and Wada pav. I hate carbonated drinks to. I guess Germany is 1 country where u just don't get non carobnated drinks. Even water is carbonated...:):)

Thanu said...

Aree I used to think it was Thumbs up too... Ur blog is educational too.

I know we become so happy when we find something when we least expect it.

Rays Of Sun said...

Pani puri for 1 Rs? Hmarae yahan pani puri was 5 Rs..
I love "Us ka juice too"..(meaning Sugarcance juice in marathi+hindi=Us=sugarcane in marathi)

Lalit Singh said...

Childhood memories
Ganne ka Ras stalls on bus stops n markets with shabby paintings of the then popular actor/actress and written below:-
"Bada Gilas 1 rupya
Chota Gilas 50 paise"
:-)

Anonymous said...

where did my comment go?

i was reminiscing about the time i saw a lizard get crushed under the machine and that ganne ka ras was served happily in overflowing glasses with the serving-boys dunking their fingers in each glass to carry 5 at a time....


and everyone drank the juice, happily..

i thought i should share these memories in the middle of everyone sharing their own happy ones...

hee haa haa

Sayesha said...

#Moonwalker,
Oye tu ROS ko lalkaar rahi hai?? :O
You evil evil girl. Akele akele chaat pani puri?? :(

#Pandora,
Ooops, late by a minute! :P
Hehehe... mail karegi? Hahahaha! Naah, I will go to India next year and have it, crunchy crispy yummy! :D

#Clueless,
Hahaha! It's Thums Up yaar, no idea why :)
I can't remember the Salman ads but I do remember Akshay Kumar drinking the badon ka drink Thums Up! Muahaha! :D

#MachoGirl,
You're gonna have it in two months! I have been craving for pani puri for about a year now!! And with my luck and financial status, I won't get to have it for another year! :/

#Manish,
Thanks! Bahut dinon baad darshan huye :)

#Ze Ex,
Drink to your heart's content Chapaat! Ek baar India se agar nikla na, toh aisa stuff kahin nahin milega! :(

#Rohit,
Your trip sounds REALLY fun! :)
Oooh I have heard of the ginger thingie, but I still like mine 'absolute'! ;)

#Harshi,
//Have u ever come out to the beach early mornings Sash?

Nope :(
But some day I will return to the East again, and will get to see dawn at the beach! :)

#Aethyr,
Hahaha! Yeah I remember the Jumbo glasses, it was so difficult to finish! :D

#Vikram,
You really love to think of me hopping and jumping around like a kid, don't you? Last post mein bhi... and it baar tripping and falling on the sand include kar diya? Wah re imagination! :D

#Suds,
Yeah, I have heard so much about the chaupaati ka pav bhaji and pani puri, I really can't wait to go to Mumbai. I may just make pani puri my staple diet for the entire duration of my trip! :D

In Germany, even water is carbonated??? :O :O :O

#Thanu,
Hehehe! Yeah, it's Thums Up! :P

#ROS,
When I was six or so, there was a pani puri wala outside my school who used to sell 5 pani puris for 1 rupee!! :O

"Us ka juice"? Hahahaha! I can picture this conversation...

"Bhaiya zara ek glass us ka juice ka dena.."
"Kiska juice?"
"Us ka juice."
"Kiska juice???"
"Arre us ka juice!"

And so goes on the convo... :D

#Lalit,
Arre wah! Kya yaad dilaya! I used to think Meenakshi Sheshadri owned the stall! :O

//"Bada Gilas 1 rupya, Chota Gilas 50 paise"

Hahahaha! That's adorable! :D

N,
Thanks a lot! :/

Sayesha said...

#Gangadhar,
Speaking of wishes, I'd like a pani-puri wala who permanently resides in my apartment, please. :) In fact, my cousin Sid used to tease me, "You should get married to a pani puri wala!" Hahaha! :D

#Vikram,
Tu ruk na! Let me get there! Then we'll see who does the hopping and skipping! ;)

#Aslam,
OH YEAH! Frooti! How could I forget Frooti?? Can you hear me sing "Mango frooooti, fresh and juuuicy!" :D
ps: You grew up in Imphal?? That's so cool!! :)

Unknown said...

Sayesha,
a friend directed me to your blog. I've followed it for a while and it's so full of energy and fun. Keep up the good work, your writings touch a chord with so many people, its amazing.

Eclectic Blogger said...

oops.. high time i stopped drinking coke..

Sayesha said...

#Deep_thought,
Welcome to Sayeshaz! Glad you like it, thanks! :)

#Eclectic,
Yes yes, please cut down on coke! It has nothing but calories! :O

Big Man said...

all this talk about thums up and childhood reminds me of 'Gold Spot'...

man what I would give for a bottle of Gold Spot now!

R said...

'Absolute'..!

Kusum Rohra said...

I feel like having sugarcare Juice NOW

Mutters to herself something about never even remotely being able to comment first at sayeshaz :(

Sayesha said...

#Big Man,
Oh man! Gold Spot!!! :P ~ ~

#Rohit,
:)

#Kusum,
:(
If it gives you any consolation, I've been craving for pani puri for about a year now! :(
ps: Glad that you're commenting so actively! :)

Adi Oso-Groot Finch said...

Thank goodness happiness is so low-maintenance.

totally agree!! though my lowest is Rs.13.50 per head for a 4 course meal. and for another Rs.22 we got a two way ride on the steamer and another set of paranthas and kebabs!!

Cal can be so inexpensive if one's willing to go off road

Unknown said...

Hey Sayesha..

Nice post! I particularly loved the way you ended it.. sometimes the smallest of things make us go ga-ga..
Just like you hopped like a kid at the sight of a sugarcane stall :)
That was sooo sweet & innocent :D

Take care,
Aarti