Boxshops of Kerala.... :)

People say that you know you are getting old when you start feeling nostalgic too often. Seems, these days, I am getting older at a rate faster than the BSE,that anything and everything makes me nostalgic!
This weekend, on my way back home, I saw the changing face of "pettikkadas"** in Kerala. Almost all of them had a decorated line of the red Bingo packets. I don't know if its a specialized marketing strategy of Bingo ,that they have targeted these pettikkadas instead of the retail shops and supermarkets on large scale. But definitely, such packets were unheard to be , in my "nostalgic past".

Pettikadas be it in the north most or south most part of Kerala, had a standard list of items on the chart.
The "murukkaan" (local pan),scissors cigarettes(note- its not even Wills, but only Scissors cigarettes, Dinesh beedi, a few jars of sweets -kappilandi muttai and few others...which are all nothing but melted sugar molded to different shapes and colours, but definitely they tasted better than tobleorone and rosches . And we used to get so many of them for even 25 paise. And see how times have changed...Just yesterday, when I gave four 25 paise to the canteen vendor who asked me for a change of one rupee, the look he gave me made me wonder whether I had just called him the most forbidden expletive!!

Back to the pettikkada, not to miss the special soda bottles. I have not seen those bottles off late, but they used to be the trademark of those tiny little roadside shops and an essential itinerary for the one minute stop during the long journeys. The bottle locked by a marble at the neck, you ought to push the marble inside to drink the soda. Sadly, I have never had one of them, cause I was always afraid, the marble may just fall out and choke me to death!!
Ha, marbles!!! Of all colours and designs...that brings me another train of "nostalgic " memories (which means I have grown older by another 10 years??!!!)

Then the "illustrated weeklies" of Kerala. Shamelessly or proudly let me say, I started my venture into Malayalam literature from those "johnykutty susanna " stories :-). Probably that's why, I never progressed much beyond that ! :)

And today, those pettikadas have gone for a totally revamped look! With Airtel, Reliance and Vodafone (yes, HUTCH IS NOW VODAFONE :))display boards and Lays, Perks and Bingo packets taking the shelves, should I say I am proud to see the progressing economy of the villages, or be sad that I have to add more items to those "nostalgic" list.

All said and done, my friend jokingly asked me recently, "can you tell me one thing that doesn't make you nostalgic". Yes, may be, I am indeed growing very very old :(

**petti=box
kada =shop. So petitkkada=boxshop ,a shop as small as the box, or in the shape of a box or a shop where you get boxes ???:):) Blame my poor English, I do not know the translation of pettikkada :). The road side small tiny shops, roughly.