6 TOP STREET SNACKS VANISHING FROM SILIGURI

JOLLY POP ICE-CREAM: This ice cream brand ruled Siliguri streets in the early eighties along with other brands. It used to have many vending carts for catering Siliguri and adjoining areas. Jollypop was the most sought after brand of Ice cream which the children of eighties lament. The wooden vending carts with a special sound made by the Ice cream vendors (Ice cream wallas), used to attract the children. Though the main product sold was ice bars (not ice cream bars), yet it was known as Ice cream cart. The manufacturing unit was at Deshbandhupara of Siliguri. Till late 90′s those carts were seen in the streets but were completely pulled off in the last decade.

WILD BERRY: Wild Berry or popularly known as ‘বন কুল’ in Bengali was also one of the most sought after munching snacks in the streets of Siliguri. Any kind of events like Cricket match, Football match, School Sports, Picnics, Movie shows, Melas, Haats etc. became incomplete with this item. Often the sale of this item in the street used to increase after Saraswati pujas because of a soft superstition prevailing among the Siligurians that the Goddess of wisdom might become angry with the students if they consumed wild berry before Saraswati Puja. Now those have almost completely vanished from Siliguri streets.

STREET KULFI: People who spent their childhood in the seventies and eighties in Siliguri lamented about this sweet, cool, attractive stuff, which was sold in big earthen haandis by the vendors (Kulfiwalas). Children used to wait for summer, especially for these sweet snacks sold in the streets of Siliguri. The mothers during that time used to shun away kids by telling them about the mixing of Bhang in the kulfis by the sellers. However, the misconception used to go off, once the item was being tasted by the kids. The Red cloth and the wet outlook of the container itself were enough for the saliva to roll down from the mouth of the customers of the yesteryears of the city. Today these kulfis are not to be seen anymore in Siliguri. Instead similar things are available in the ice cream parlors but those flavors are completely missing.

DRY SON PAPDI: The dry Son Papdi in tin containers were sold by the vendors in the eighties and even in nineties. They were served on plain paper only. It was costing around 25 paise to 50 paise. The sweetness of those fibers was the attractive features to attract the young and old especially during Melas, Haats, and sports events. Now the Son Papdis comes under registered brand names and sold in sealed packs or may have got a shelf space in all mithai counters of the city, but are not seen in the streets of Siliguri anymore by the sellers in tin containers with glasses.

ICE GOLA: The Ice Gola cart is still seen in rare instances in Siliguri now. However, the craze is gradually vanishing off. Thanks to the social awareness about the dangers of street side open food items. This used to be a favorite street item among the women folk especially in front of the schools and college. School authorities shun away the carts from the premises but could not stop the students to gather again in front of the cart sipping the multicolored delicacies. The view of the peeling off the ice was also a very refreshing view especially under the scorching sun even if you won’t be having one.

MEWAD ICE DRINK: The advent of the item came late in Siliguri with cream drink, Kulfi, Ice cream all in one cart. However, it vanished fast from the street. The specialty of the MEWAD was the songs of the eighties and nineties played in loudspeakers. You might even hear the song of Kishor Kumar or Lata Mangeshkar of 60′s played through the loud speakers of the cart. Today you might come across but very few carts are left in the street. Hopefully, those might not be seen in next summer.