Karnataka - Mangalore   

His buttermilk is welcome for the thirsty in Mangalore

Special Correspondent

This man has been selling the drink for the last 50 years

THIRST QUENCHER: Gopala Golla's buttermilk provides respite for Mangaloreans from the scorching summer sun.

MANGALORE: Summer has reached its peak in Mangalore. Those selling soft drinks, tender coconut and traditional drinks are making brisk business. And thanks to people like Gopala Golla of Shakti Nagar, at least one need not go in search of thirst quenchers as they bring them to one's doorsteps, as it were.

The turban-clad old man pushing a cycle with a large steel vessel is a welcome sign to those who are thirsty. The cool glass of masala buttermilk he sells at Rs. 3 is more than money's worth for those braving the scorching sun. Gopala Golla, in his early sixties, has been selling buttermilk in Mangalore for over 50 years and those heavily burnt wrinkles on his forehead say it all.

He pedals all the way from Shakti Nagar every morning and returns home in the afternoon after having made just enough money for two meals for his wife and himself. He says it (money) does not matter much when asked why he quenches the thirst of street children, beggars and vagabonds without expecting anything in return.

Gopala Golla does not resent the situation either. He says this vocation has seen him through the most difficult times.

"Even if there are no meals for me and my family, I will give the last glass of buttermilk to the one who is thirsty," he says.

A few regular customers said he meant it. Some of them said they had been privy to his acts of kindness and they had no doubt about his intentions. Gopala Golla says the hottest summer he had ever seen was in 1972 when he had made three trips a day.

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