On A Hot Day, Indians Love To Sip A Spicy Soda That's A Bit Funky, Too
It was a warm January day in Vadodara, in western India, when my aunt, Apeksha Kaki, announced that we were going to a soda shop. This was my first time visiting extended family in India, and I was eager to try local foods and drinks. So, I was a bit disappointed at the mention of soda.
"What kind of soda, Kaki?" I asked my aunt. "Like, Coca Cola?"
"Nai, Leena," she replied. "It's called...soda, but it's not what you are used to."
It was around 9 p.m. when we rolled up to this shop on the outskirts of the city. A crowd of aboutsectioned into a few dozen compartments, each with a plastic cup of soda - sort of an assembly line, allowing the staff to handle many orders at once. Several plastic bottles sat on one end of the counter. Repurposed into squeeze bottles, some were filled with fresh lemon juice and plain or flavored syrups. There were canisters with spices and rock salt.
