The Re-birth of 'Goti Soda' in Kuwait
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
Playing in the sun, loads of fun and a flavoured soda drink – Goti Soda, Childhood was fun. Goli Soda or Goti Soda (Goti = Marble in Hindi) gets me nostalgic at the very thought of it. At the roadside, highly unorganized and local carbonated water which comes with a peculiar bottle holding the fizz of the Soda with a glass goti ( i.e. Marble) with some variety of flavours was a popular drink in India till the arrival of Cola, Pepsi and other Soft Drinks.
The drink is called Goti soda due to the design of the bottle, often called Codd-neck bottles. They are made of glass and sealed with a marble; the codd head is held in place by the pressure of the carbonation in the drink. To open the bottle, a device to push the marble inward is provided. The marble is pushed inside the neck of the bottle where it rattles around while drinking. Therefore, the drinks are sometimes called "marble soda". The neck of the bottle has a constriction at one side which prevents the marble from blocking the bottle when you are drinking from it – quite innovative! The soda was available quite cheap, a few annas in the early 50’s.
More than drinking the soda pushing the marble down the bottle either with a wooden device with a projection or with the strength of the middle finger and listening to that sound of carbon dioxide escaping from the bottle gave a thrill to us.
No need of anymore missing those childhood days we can now enjoy the Goti Soda right here in Kuwait amidst all other soft drinks, thanks to two Kuwaiti cousins, who re-introduced the same amidst the luxuries of Avenue Mall.
The history of the Goti Soda goes as, in 1840 it was introduced in England and become famous in all counties and the English people brought it to India during their rule. In 1920 with all things imported from India to Kuwait Goti Soda too came to Kuwait. Elders say that it was very much popular in Kuwait till 1945. With the advent of Pepsi and Cola to the market, the Goti Soda became a history.
Now after almost 68 years, Goti Soda was brought back again in Kuwait by Al-Kandri Family by getting the bottles from India.
Salhe Al Suleman Al Kandri and Meshari Al Kandri both cousins together brought back Goti Soda by starting a shop named Boteella (Meaning Bo - Bottle and teella - Marble / Goti in Arabic) in Avenue Mall a year back. The shop is run by 6 staffs in which 5 of them are Indians, four are from Kerala and one is from Karnataka. Mr Abdhul Lathif from Calicut (Kozhikode), Kerala is the shop manager. Boteella is located at Phase III, Souk, Avenue Mall, Kuwait.
4 Flavours of Goti soda are available at this shop which are Blackberry, Raspberry, Orange and Lemonade. The most sold flavour among the Kuwaitis is the Lemonade which is popularly known as Namlet. The drink is very popular as it is splashed with lemon tinge that dances on the tongue from the very first sip.
The distinctive bottles are manufactured at the factory located in Shuwaikh. This drink is very popular among the Kuwaitis. The cost of each flavoured Goti Soda is 1.500 KD/- and you don’t need to return the bottle back. The bottle can be taken and kept as a show piece at home. Around 500 bottles are sold per day on an average and in weekends its more. The shop is open from 10:00 AM till 11:00 PM on all days.
For those whose childhood memories are linked to the Goti Soda can enjoy it in Kuwait and get the thrill in opening the bottles.
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Deepika Nambiar is part of the IIK team and IWIK core team. She does regular contributions to the news portal IndiansinKuwait.com and also for Timesofindia.com.
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