My tryst with Coca-Cola

 

I liked CocaCola very much. I remember having my first CocaCola in Bangalore while I was studying in college in late 60s. 

My job required me to visit tier 3 and tier 4 towns in Prakasam District from 1972 to 83. Those days drinking water in such towns was not safe. So I used to consume aerated drinks since packed fruit drinks had still not made their appearance in the market. Added to this, due to lack of complete knowledge about dangers of aerated drink consumption, my choice fell on such drinks. Sunita Narayan (the celebrated Delhi Environmentalist) was not there to educate youngsters like me in those days. I stopped drinking aerated drinks after I realised the harmful effects on our health from such drinks. Since 1980s, I am completely keeping away from them.

One summer evening in Guntur in 1973 or 74, I remember once going to a garden bar & restaurant along with 4-5 close representative friends from other companies I remember Sundaram (Max Factor) and Satish Baji (Sandoz) in that group that evening. It was a long session of about 4 hours (from 7 to 11pm) I was the only teetotaler in that group. While all of them were enjoying their beers, whiskey or rum I was drinking my favourite Coca-Cola. The bill arrived at the end of the session. While I offered to share it along with others, they politely declined as I didn't take any alcohol. The bill however showed an entry for 22 Coca-Colas, all of them on account of me. Remember Coca-Cola was a 200ml bottle in those days. Word went round in our friends circle about the record I unintentionally created that evening. A few months later, a strange request was made to me by a few close friends - try and repeat my prowess at Coca-Cola consumption. I could only drink 14 as the drink was served without cooling and I drank in a much shorter duration than on the first occasion.

Tailpiece: Do you know that Limca tastes great even when it is hot? I accidentally learnt about it when I was visiting Inkollu, a remote rich town in Prakasam District. I picked up a bottle from a crate kept in open sun on a summer day (temperature on that day was 42°C) to quench my thirst after field work at 2pm. Likewise, I learnt from a German tourist visiting Kanha Tiger Reserve that Orange juice (100% extract through a squeezer) tastes very good when it is heated and sipped like hot tea. She told me this when I mentioned to her about hot Limca. I can vouch for hot Orange juice being quite tasty as I have tried that several times after my return from Kanha National Tiger Reserve.