Long before multinational fizz arrived with neon signs and global advertising, there was a modest Zoroastrian enterprise quietly bottling refreshment for thirsty Indians under the punishing summer sun in Poona. Started in 1884 by Ardeshir Khodadad Irani — two years before The Coca-Cola Company introduced Coca-Cola in the US — Ardeshir’s, affectionately called Ardy’s, is believed to be India’s oldest aerated soft drink brand. For generations it has been the taste of blistering afternoons, school holidays, Irani café lunches, and railway journeys.
The story goes that Ardeshir, who was an alchemist, would light a charcoal bhatti, generate carbon dioxide, dissolve it in water, and make soda. This saved the cantonment city’s reliance on mules on whose backs soda bottles were ferried into the city from Bombay. Soon, sugar and flavour found their way into the drink, and Ardeshir’s was born, a bottled range of fizzy cheer that began lining shelves like colourful sentries, the bestsellers being Raspberry, Lemonade, Green Apple, Orangeade, Indi Soda, and the intriguingly named Peach Melba.
Ardy’s continues to function from a quaint old structure at the literally named Sharbatwala Chowk in the Deccan City where time moves at the pace of clinking glass bottles with marble stoppers that feel wonderfully old-world now, and hand-delivered nostalgia. Over the centuries, other Parsi entrepreneurs also ruled the aerated water industry with brands like Duke’s, Rogers, and Pallonji’s whose iconic flavours I have tasted. And Spenses, another Irani enterprise, which I have only heard of but never sampled because it is available only in Secunderabad.
But how far is Pune? On one of these sweltering mornings, I’m thinking of driving over the Western Ghats to drink my first ice-cold bottle of Ardy’s at its source. There is something deeply comforting about the fact that while global beverage giants conquered shelves, Ardy’s survived quietly in its own corner of the world, and is still fizzing faithfully into thick glasses in cafés with elderly waiters, Bentwood chairs and marble-top tables. In an age obsessed with reinvention, Ardy’s remains deliciously unchanged — proof that sometimes heritage tastes best served ice-cold.
About Mark Manuel
The above thoughts/content has been proudly copied from the wall of Sir Mark Manuel. Being interviewing almost every role model of this country and going stronger each day. Mark Manuel is a respected Mumbai editor, writer, and columnist.
With over three decades of journalism in leading publications. This includes the Free Press Journal, Times, Dainik Bhaskar, Mid-Day, and Afternoon. He is famous for his brilliant pen interviews. He himself is a TEDx speaker.
Further
His interviews have featured in several leading media houses. They include the Hindustan Times, Huffington Post, BBC, and Network 18. Almost every famous person has been interviewed by him in the country from Mother Teresa to Muhammad Ali. His first book is just out. It’s titled Moryaa Re! It is a crime thriller that is perhaps the country’s first police procedural. He began his career covering crime. And in a tribute to his experience and knowledge of this beat.
Several distinguished officers of the Mumbai Police and its Crime Branch collaborated with him to make this book possible. Amitabh Bachchan wrote the forward in a statement of friendship for Mark Manuel and admiration for his work.
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