As mercury shoots up in Sukkur, so does vendors’ profit

Some of the vendors mix cheap ingredients and claim the end product is the real deal.

SUKKUR:

Electricity breakdowns in parts of upper Sindh are so common now that they have become a part of popular lore and periods of uninterrupted electricity arouse more suspicion than power outages.

The cherry on the cake is, however, the weather this summer. Mercury levels have been rocketing up to 48 degrees celsius or more in parts of upper Sindh, including Sukkur, giving its residents the uncomfortable sensation of being slowly baked to death.

Even in this scorched land, there is a group that feels they have little to complain. The economic fortunes of vendors selling cold drinks are on the rise. A big swig from a tall glass of thadal, which is prepared from almond, black pepper, aniseed, peppermint, poppy seed and some other ingredients, goes a long way in quenching people’s thirst. According to popular tradition, it also works like magic on the liver.  The juice of aaloo bukhara [plum], which is also made from varieties of ingredients, including damascene plums, tamarind, also, reportedly have the same effect. This is why Sukkur’s residents do not object to the mushrooming of cold drink vendors at every corner of the street.

Dehydrated and hoodwinked

A survey suggests that vendors should not be taken for their word on the ingredients they mishmash into the drinks. According to a survey, many of the vendors claim they use original ingredients in their drinks when they actually only mix food colour, essence and ice. This lower quality variety sells for Rs5 per glass. A drink of Thadal which actually does contain some of the promised ingredients is priced at Rs25 per glass. “We use poppy seed, aniseed, peppermint, sugar and almonds which is why our drinks are priced at Rs25,” vendor Abdul Raheem told The Express Tribune. “A glass of sugarcane costs Rs10 or Rs25 depending on its size.”

Lassoing in the lassi fans

Good old lassi, which is made from yogurt, milk, water and crushed ice, wins the contest for the most popular summer drink by far. It comes in two varieties, sweet and salty. Some people believe that salty lassi supplements essential salts which the body loses due to the increased sweating in hot weather. Salty lassi sells for Rs30 per glass and sweet for Rs35. Ice, which is the main ingredient in all these drinks, used to cost Rs5 to Rs10 per kilogramme. It now sells for Rs30 per kilogramme. Ice factory owners claim that the price of ice has risen because they cannot prepare enough ice due to power outages.

Double trouble

Many of Sukkur’s residents deal with the double tragedy of hot weather and loadshedding by spending their afternoons in parks. Those who can afford to spend quench their thirst by visiting drink vendors. “It is very difficult to stay confined in the four walls of our homes when there is no electricity,” said one resident. “So we come out of our homes and drink juice to beat the heat.” Some people opt for water melons instead of cold drinks. “Juicy fruits particularly water melons are the best way to restore energy lost due to the heat and sweating,” said Dr Moenuddin Shaikh. He advised that people should avoid eating over ripe fruits or those that have already been cut. “They should also not drink cheap cold drinks because they are harmful for the digestive system and cause gastroenteritis.”

Published in The Express Tribune, May 21^st, 2013.