The Zing that Sunk

I recollect those old days, when I was in primary school. Home was a short walk through un-metalled road, that passed through the back side of then then Parle Bottling company, with it's erstwhile main product that captivated the figment of my imagination - Gold Spot, the zing thing. I used to walk up to the back door of the factory gates, and take a peek through the gaps in the asbestos sheets, which adorned the material management gate, and thousands of bottles stacked over each other, containing this sparkling, fizzy orange drink. Being a kid has it's own advantages. The kind factory workers would call me in, which would be answered with a shy no, for which the obvious question used to follow. Goldspot venuma? (You want a gold spot?)I don't know what involuntary reaction triggered the response, but then my eyes used to bulge out in sheer excitement of having the zing thing in my hands. Most often, I used to say venaam (No) and run away home, not minding the traffic on that little alley. I was always my mother's pampered little boy. I knew that my quota of goldspot used to come from the mini bread house right opposite our house. That guy was my friend too. He had this little account only for me. I remember asking my mom, screaming in a feverish pitch, as I used to run out from home, ready to play, "Goldspot vaangikkava?". The first stop was mini bread house if the answer was affirmative. I'd never received any pocket money till I reached university. Never had the need too. All I wanted was goldspot and butter biscuits which were readily available from Mini bread house when my mom said ok. And she used to pay for what I bought the time she visited the shop. Being a kid has a lot of advantages, especially a lot of goodwill when you grow up for over 15 years in that neighbourhood. 1993 came. There were two important changes in my life. I moved from school to college. I moved from home to 1000 kms away in to a hostel. And with that my association with goldspot came to an end. For goldspot bid adieu and made way to the now famous fanta. Parle was taken over by the cola giant, coca cola. What's in a name? Well, for 15 years I knew this drink as gold spot. It was in my blood. Fanta? Naahhh. Didn't appeal to me. It marked the end of an era. I seldom realised that the cola wars fought on international grounds would wipe out the Indian soft drink industry. The domestic heavy weights were routed in no time just because, pepsi and cola could pump in billions in their advertising strategies to show the poor Indian cousins as unwelcome guests in a house. I didn't realise it then. For me, it was just that goldspot ceased to exist. College got me to taste a remarkable cola. It was called Bajal. The local drink of coastal Karnataka. I'd seen gold spot prices rising from 2 rupees to 6, in the span of 15 years. But to find Bajal available at 1.5 in 1993 was a thrill. My thirst for goldspot was quenched by Bajal, which was affordable, refreshing and so belonging. But come 2000, Bajal was closed. No. They weren't sold out. They just closed down. Cola and Pepsi were captivating the minds of all youngsters. 10 bucks for a drink was so cool, as it was very modern and trendy to pose with coke and pepsi. We had everyone from film stars to cricket players to wannabe celebrities coming on screen every 15 mins in over 100 channels urging us to gulp down their brand of cola. Pepsi vs coke ensured that Bajal and a host of other domestic drinks were destroyed beyond comprehension. I remember catching up with ads in tv as a kid of brands like Kalimark, which had the flagship trio, solo and bovonto drinks. I'm not sure whether they exist now. Maybe they followed the path of Goldspot. Or maybe, they are traded in rural markets, far from the maddening crowd, where people still don't know what the cola is or where people can't afford anything more than a 2 rupee drink. The good old Goli Soda and Panneer Soda still makes it rounds in the villages. Yes, two mad elephants moved to a fertile grassland and had a mighty fight as to who is more powerful. All they left behind was ruins, demolishing all that came the way, demolishing homes of local creatures, killing any that came under their foot. Beyond all, what has happened is, after 15 years since the cola war started in India, they've left like me countless people who have lost the remembrance of a taste, a taste of childhood. A taste once called Gold Spot - The Zing thing. I've not taken to any of the cola drink. The domestic drinks were substituted by fruit juices and plain milk with no sugar. But when I think of the golden era of 2 decades ago, the message is loud and clear. The Zing was sunk.

Mani