Golgappe, something nobody really plans for but can’t resist once they see a stall. It’s attractive I know, a vendor serving more than dozen people, each of them holding a plate, waiting desperately for their turn. You can’t help but go and get yourself the tasty waterballs (surely, there’s a better name for them in English!). It gives us the real cheap thrills we all seek!
Your conversation with the vendor doesn’t really have much in it but just two dialogues.
1. The vendor asking you, “Aata ya sooji?”
2. You asking for your birthright, “Bhaiya ek sookha dena.”
The second dialogue has been talked about so much, it is part of Indian pop culture and folklore. So, let’s talk about the first one now. Can someone explain to me why it is even a question? Why would any sane person with good taste opt for aata golgappa?
Before we even get to the taste, let’s just talk logistics. Have you seen how fragile aata golgappas are? Just a little bit of extra pressure and it collapses in your hand like a cheap water balloon in Holi. No sorry, I am not having anything that breaks too easily, it reminds me of all my past relationships!
It doesn’t count for anything, it melts away as soon as you put it in your mouth. I didn’t ask for golgappas to have it melt in my mouth! I want that satisfying crunch before my mouth is inundated in a smorgasboard of exciting taste. No seriously, it’s better to just drink the golgappa water for free after your friend is done eating his sooji golgappas. And then there are these surprise parts of the aata golgappas who train all their life to successfully stab your gum and hurt you.
You know how else can you tell that the aate golgappe suck? Well, you always get more of them compared to the sooji ones. So yeah, basically the ones who opt for them prefer quantity over quality.