Ode to the Original Pulippu Muttai

If you still have not figured out what I'm talking about, perhaps you should shift sites now. On second thoughts, perhaps you should stay on to learn about a forgotten nugget of history : the Original Pullipu Muttai (pu-li-ppu mu-taai). Though it is a crime in translation, I guess you could call it an 'orange sweet.'
Oh dear. So lame.
However, if you belong to the exclusive band of people that has felt the roundness of the Original Pulippu Mittai in the mouth, sucked deep it's orangey-sourness on the tongue, rolled it around and stuck it in a cheek, ahhhh... you surely know what you are missing.
In childhood, the pullipu muttai was a top favourite. Because it tasted good, (yeah man!!), but also because of the shocking orange it left on your tongue. Also, I suspect because it cost as little as 5 or 10 paise at one point of time. OR as they used to say then, 5 np! You just had to turn in a not-so shiny 20 ps coin to bring back a child's handful. A child's delight.
It was, by the way, also recommended for those suffering from motion sickness and nausea.
Today, you cannot find the original pullipu muttai anymore. Not even in the small shacks, our potti kadais. Today, in Chennai, ask for a pullipu muttai and the potti shopkeeper, if he is old enough, will sadly nod his head and share in your angst. If he is not, then he is likely to turn his nose up at you. Which is o.k. too.
There is a third obnoxious category of shopkeepers that attempts to sell clones masquerading as pullipu muttais. CLONES, HAH! As if we cannot tell. Sophisticated boiled sweets that come in smart sachets ; that run colour on your tongue, but are not a patch on the original pullipu muttai. Not a patch. Uh-huh.