In 1923, Baburao Gujar started Gujar Cold Drink House in a lane of Budhwar Peth, Pune. On the Marathi New Year of Gudi Padwa in 2023, the store – which is now managed by the third generation of the family – completed 100 years.
At the shop, Baburao initially sold sherbet and lemon soda. One day he mixed cold milk with a rose syrup and started selling it. Later, he also started making ice cream with a small wooden machine. He added ice cream to the cold milk drink and christened it Mastani, the name by which the drink is known to this day.
Gradually, the family expanded their business to three more branches – 20 years ago they opened one near City Pride, the third one is located in Hadapsar and the fourth near Nilayam Talkies was opened on March 16, 2024.
“Though our main branch is still named Gujar Cold Drink House, we decided to name the Hadapsar and City Pride branches as Gujar Mastani. This generation thinks of cold drinks as soft drinks such as Pepsi, 7up, Sprite, and Coca Cola. In our time, we used to refer to our Mastani as a cold drink as older people from the Peth areas in Pune are aware. But the younger generation gets confused,” says Baburao’s granddaughter Snehal Babasaheb Gujar who is 35 now.
Though the store has survived time and etched itself into the city’s legacy, it had a rocky start. Soon after Baburao started selling Mastani, he passed away in an accident. His two sons took over the business. “I didn’t understand anything at that time, I was small. My grandmother was the one who used to guide all of us. But after the accident, she also felt disturbed. My uncle and dad picked up based on whatever they had observed while assisting their father,” recalls Snehal.
She has been managing Gujar Cold Drink House for the last ten years with her cousins. Talking about their menu and changes made to it over the last century, Snehal says, “Bajirao Mastani, a mixed fruit flavoured drink, was the most famous Mastani earlier. It is still famous but we have added new flavours. We have around 200 flavours, including a lot of new ones like Dahi Mastani, Thandai, dry fruit and falooda related, etc.”
Recounting the days at the shop when she was a school student, Snehal says, “One grandfather used to come with large slabs of ice and a milkman would supply raw milk. We used to warm up the milk, then pour the hot milk in a big jar and put ice cubes in a small compartment. The cooks would stir it and use that milk for Mastani.” The entire Gujar family, originally from Pune, used to reside on the floor above the shop in Budhwar Peth.
While the store retains the same vintage aesthetics, the only thing that has changed over the years is the cost of the cold drinks. When Snehal was in school, a Mastani cost Rs 15 and a single scoop of ice cream required one to shell out around Rs 7. Today, Bajirao Mastani costs Rs 90 whereas the special version is priced at Rs 110.
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