S K Goli Soda

Our little place is at 7/12, Mettupalayam Road in Sirumugai. It’s a busy spot because of the road, and there’s always a lot of noise from the buses and lorries passing by. S K Goli Soda is a small operation. We focus on the old-style bottles with the marble inside. It’s a lot of work to clean those bottles and get them filled properly. You have to be careful with the pressure or things go wrong. My hands are usually wet or cold from the water, but I’ve grown used to it over the years. We have a small shed where we keep the empty crates stacked up high. Sometimes it feels like they might fall over, but they never do. People driving to Mettupalayam often pull over when they see the shop. It’s a good place to take a break from the heat. We don’t have air conditioning or fancy chairs, just a couple of wooden benches under the shade. The sun hits the front of the shop in the afternoon, so we pull down the green netting to stay cool. It’s just me and my nephew most days. We talk about the weather or the local news while we work. It’s a simple way to make a living, and the people in Sirumugai are good to us. We’ve been here long enough that the traffic doesn't even bother us anymore. We just keep the bottles ready for whoever stops by next.