GolaWala- Ahmedabad

With the summer heat hitting hard on everybody, one can’t help but drink cold beverages, shakes and juices. Along with these drinks that sell like hot cakes (pardon the pun) every summer, there is another section that makes lots of money too - the local Gola wala! How many of you remember eating golas every evening or afternoon to beat the heat and get some relief. Remember going to the beach, walking past a line of vendors who sell these tasty, colorful icy treats. You would notice kids lingering around like bees, girls in their teens trying to pester the Gola wala for extra syrup by fluttering their eyes. The older generation are as eager only they act more sophisticated about it. It brings to your mind that Ratatouille Moment where you see yourself as a child, looking at the wonderfully cold and tasty ice in front of you! That was the best prize you could get. Rose, orange, kala khatta, mango flavored, you name it and they have it. Just one wouldn’t be enough. Like the new saying goes “No one can eat just one.”

How many of you remember bribing your parents to get that one Gola. You would say “I will study continuously for 1 hour if I got one Gola today”. Sometimes that would work and the rest of the times you would get a stare that would drive you away in order to escape a slap. Bets with friends would have a Gola as the prize for winning it. Also who can forget the first “chuski” of the Gola with your loved one? One can just never let go of those days. Drive down to the Gola wala and have a “chuski” of those long gone memories and bid farewell to this hot summer!

the Gola wala is the ice slush vendor. With several  bottles of colorful syrups lined up in his cart, an ice crusher  machine  and such essentials like gola sticks, glasses and bowls, he churns out the most tasty ice golas.On crushed ice the flavored syrups like Kala khatta, orange  is poured with a sprinkle of chaat masala and it is sucked to enjoy it's taste.Kala Khatta is one of the flavors of tangy syrup that is poured on crushed ice to form a Gola. Gola is ice candy that is generally a frozen, tangy flavored ice slush, quite similar to the American snow cone.One has to lick or suck the syrup from the ice candy.It is also known as  'Chuski.''. It's one of Mumbai's speciality  the kala khatta  flavored golas. Now a days you do get sterile golas made by people wearing gloves and using bottled safe mineral water for the ice.