08/04/2020
" Orange BalI and Black Ball "
by Sandeep Ghimire 3rd Batch MBBS
published in Souvenir 1st issue
I wonder how many childhood memories did these chocolates make and how many faces it lit up with smile and joy. One was enough to make our day and we got 4 of them for Rs.1. Some loved that sweetness of orange whereas; some couldn’t resist that sweet, and choose sour hot black ones. We all have our own stories with orange balls and black balls.
I asked my mother about her experiences back then. And then she said,” those sweets costs 25 paisa each, and they were a little bigger than that of your time and just once was enough to last for hours making your mouth go wow.” Well, if you got 5 rupees in your pocket, you could get 20 of those and as a child what I remember doing was, keeping all 20 of those in my water bottle and shaking it until we made orange juice out of that. In a way, let’s say, that was our Fanta made out of orange balls and then, we used to make a hole in the cap of the bottle, so that we could squeeze and drink it slowly.
A brother shared his experience about his childhood. He said, “Once he had 50 paisa in his pocket and he went to buy 2 orange balls, one for him and the other for his sister, but the shopkeeper gave him 2 white rabbits (one of the tastiest chocolates of that time) for free and that day they enjoyed. The next day he sent his sister and again the shopkeeper gave 2 white rabbits for the same 50 paisa. They shared those as well. The next day, he went to a different shop and bought 2 orange balls and shared those happily.” Who knew those sweets would make such wonderful memories. People still cherish those moments today. Those sweets gave them something to look back on and smile, even if it was just for a moment.
Talking about memories, wonder how many birthdays did they make special. Back then, white rabbit and Choco fun were considered a little expensive, and most of the children distributed orange balls or black balls. Our school was small with few students, so on birthdays, everyone distributed chocolates to the whole school. I still remember friends distributing those sweets and waiting for our turn in the assembly line. But, the fun was when there were chocolates still remaining even after distributing to the entire school. We could make juice powder out of them and have fun. Now, as I think about it, they made happy memories that we will cherish for life.
Now, they are gone like our childhood, leaving just the memories behind. Many new chocolates like Snickers, Dairy Milk, and Twix have come. But none of them will ever replace orange ball and black ball.
