Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology

"Hmm hmmm",

Deepak Riyaz excitedly made his way through the busy crowd on the Booka Yodha Street while whistling and humming a tune. Due to him being one of the civil servants in the Management Bureau of the Bhukha Yodha Street, he had the fortune of always enjoying different types of cuisines for every meal. Usually except for meal time, he does not eat any snacks, not even a small candy, in order to feel hungry during meal time so he could enjoy his meal thoroughly.

Usually, he rotates his choice of cuisine according to the day of the week. If it is Monday, it might be Kashmiri cuisine; Tuesday, it might be Bengali; Wednesday, it might be Marathi, and so on. Except for a few cuisines which do not fit his appetite, he has eaten every cuisine in the street.

Today, he is extra excited because it was the day for Cholapuri cuisine, which was one of his favourites among all the cuisines he normally tries. Not to mention, he had recently heard that Chef Rukmini has perfected a new rasam recipe, which, as far as he knows according to the word on the street, is a thing to die for.

Moments later, he was in front of the shop, and looking at the line that had already accumulated, he was not surprised as he was not the only one who felt that Cholapuri cuisine was one of the best cuisines of the Bharatiya Empire. Fortunately, though, being a civil servant working for the Booka Yodha street, he had some limited privileges, like not having to wait in the queue in order to order the meals.

This was not an official privilege but an Unofficial one where all the restaurants follow it, and the official site turns a blind eye to it as long as no extortion or eating without paying is done.

He went into the restaurant. Seeing that it was already full, he waited for a few minutes until an old woman sitting in the corner, which he usually sits in, got up and left, after which he occupied the seat.

Soon, the waiter, a young boy, around 16 yrs of age, came in front of him with a small booklet in his hand. "What can I get you s- Oh, Uncle Deepak, it's you. What are you going to taste today?" The boy asked with a smile on his face, completely losing his professional demeanour. As with the number of times Deepak had come to the Cholapuri restaurant in the half year Rukmini had been managing it, the boy had already recognised him, and they both were already familiar with each other.

"Hey Chotu, get me the usual, and I heard that a new type of rasam had been developed by the chef. I'll have a portion of it and add half a portion of rice to go with it."

"Sure, I'll bring it right away."

Moments passed, and Deepak enjoyed the meal with ecstasy clearly written on his face, especially the rasam—it was heavenly. By the end of his meal, he was constantly licking his fingers.

Looking at the boy who was coming towards him with a bill, he smiled, "Sister Rukmini's cooking is as brilliant as always. Give my regards to her and let her know that I loved the rasam." Just thinking about it stimulated his mouth.

The boy, hearing the praise, looked proud as he placed the bill on the table as well as a glass bottle containing a dark brown liquid.

Deepak was immediately confused, "This is?.."

"Haha, Uncle, this is the new beverage which has been researched with the help of Madam. For now, we are not charging anything for it since we need the reaction of our customers, so please have it. It is a complimentary drink from the restaurant."

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"Oh!" Deepak nodded in understanding. "In a short span of time, two different new foods—looks like Miss Rukmini's creativity is increasing day by day."

Saying that, he went to open the cork on the glass bottle, which, with a little force, popped out like a bullet coming out of a muzzle.

"Fzzz!"

Deepak's eyes widened as he was startled. "What is this!" he exclaimed in panic.

The people dining at the neighbouring tables were attracted by the sound and looked at the man, whose face had turned white, looking like someone who had seen a ghost.

The young boy knew that the reaction would be intense since this beverage was something no one had ever seen or even imagined, but the reaction was simply too much out of his expectations.

"Uh, Uncle, don't worry. This beverage is supposed to react like this—there is no mistake. Also, don't worry, it is edible. It has been tested by the person from the Bharatiya Standards Organisation, and it has already obtained the ISO 120000 series food rating certification for containing all the natural ingredients procured from safe sources," he blurted out all the safety features of the beverage as he was scared that the guy would misunderstand.

It took a while for Deepak to recover his composure. He was almost scared to death, but hearing what the boy said, his brows furrowed, "Are you sure?" he asked as he looked at the brown drink where bubbles could be seen rising up.

"Definitely, Uncle, you can trust us. You can see the certification document hanging right there," the boy said as he pointed at the corner of the wall.

Deepak inspected the certificate, and with a little inspection, he knew that it was a legitimate certificate.

Looking around, he could see people staring at him with curiosity to see whether he would drink it or not. In the end, he gritted his teeth and decided to try it. Although the appearance was deceiving, the taste could be completely different.

He took the bottle in his hand, took a big gulp of saliva, and then took a sip of - . Suddenly he remembered he did not even ask what the name of this beverage was.

"What's this drink called?"

"Uncle, it's called Desi Coke."

Deepak nodded, he remembered the name in his mind and finally took a sip of Desi Coke.

Right as the liquid entered his mouth, it blew up like a volcano erupting. Only a few seconds later, he felt a refreshing feeling rush all over his body.

He could not explain the taste of this beverage. If he had to say what it was, then it was the taste of refreshment filled with chilled sugar.

Under the curious and surprised gazes of everyone, sip after sip, Deepak emptied the bottle in minutes, after which he let out a loud burp.

The people felt curious and started to order the drink for themselves.@@novelbin@@

A few minutes later, everyone let out a satisfying burp as they leaned back onto their chairs, completely relaxed. While there were still some people who spat the Coke out as soon as it entered their mouths because its texture was something completely different and alien to the palate of the Bharatiya Empire and its hundreds and thousands of cultures, after controlling their reflexes and trying one more time, even those spitters found the drink extremely delicious.

Deepak Riyaz, going back to the office, spread the word of the new exotic beverage, and from the management office of the Bukha Yodha Street, the word of mouth of Desi Khola began to spread.

Initially, the drink did not gain any wide-ranging popularity because of it being completely different from any beverages of the Bhartiya Empire. But as Sri Ram Reddy took the opportunity to set up a bottling and fermentation workshop with some investment by Kaushik and Rukmini and directly decided to film the beverage to all the shop fronts in the street using his connections, the popularity began to grow.

A few months later, the drink even began to gain traction in convenience stores and normal restaurants as it became equivalent to water to some people.

Its popularity began to rise even more, and it had directly appeared on Bharatham Daily.

"This new beverage is taking the empire by storm."

With the Bharatham Daily taking the first step, other newspapers also began to publicise the new exotic beverage invented in the world-famous Bukha Yodha Street.

This attention was only amplified when the general manager of the royal family assets invested 20 million Varaha to acquire 40% of the workshop, which immediately showed that the royal family was interested in this beverage.

Rukmini, Sri Ram, and Kaushik immediately became millionaires only with the stock they held. Sri Ram held 40% of the shares, Rukmini held 5%, and Kaushik held 5%, while the remaining 10% was temporarily held by Sri Ram, but he had thought to allocate it to the highest contributors to the company every year.

With the popularity of the drink, criticism was inevitable. Questions began to arise whether the drink is really safe for consumption despite the drink getting the BSO food safety standard certification.

In order to test this out, Chemist Arjun Patel, the inventor of the sulphuric acid mass production method and the pioneer of the Patel-led chamber process, took the initiative to conduct research.

A few months later, the research had been completed, and he came up with several papers on the reactions that took place in the production of the beverage.

"In the research of whether Desi Cola is good for the human body, several interesting reactions were observed in its production."

"In the fermentation, sugar is broken down into ethanol, carbon dioxide, and energy of varying intensity."

"In the fermentation of sucrose, the sucrose added with water produces glucose and fructose."

"In the caramelization reaction, it is turned into caramel and water."

"With the addition of lemon zest, glucose is turned into lactic acid (CH3CH(OH)COOH).

"In the fermentation process, which occurs when lactic acid bacteria from gingerbread are active, converting sugar to lactic acid."

"Finally, the reaction which is responsible for the fizz and popping of the cork when opening the bottle is a new reaction which we have only recently observed, termed the carbonization reaction."

"It is a process in which carbon dioxide is dissolved in a liquid under pressure, the formula being CO2 + H2O gives C2CO3."

"So, when the bottle is opened, the pressure drops, and the CO2 which had been dissolved escapes rapidly, causing bubbling and fizz."

"As for whether the beverage is healthy, it is a complicated question because certain substances have been found in the beverage in abnormal quantities, like caffeine, which is several times more than what is found in coffee or tea, and some other things. But in small doses, it is not too harmful to the body."

"Instead, the drink has an amazing effect to stimulate the mind and keep it awake no matter how tired you are."

"Overall, in conclusion, the beverage is safe to consume, but in limited quantities. It might have a bad effect and damage health in long-term continuous consumption."

When this research paper was released, other chemists and biological scientists discovered that these reactions and research could be used in several different fields, and they immediately started research. For example, in the food and beverage industry, they started research on fermentation and carbonization for alcoholic beverages, non-alcoholic beverages, fermented foods, and artisanal craft beverages.

For the pharmaceutical industry, the biochemical fermentation process used in the production of Desi Coke was used to research antibiotic production methods, vaccine development methods, and probiotic methods.

For the agricultural industry, the research on fermentation was used to further nutrient enhancement. For example, research started in silage production, where crops like corn or grass are fermented to form silages to preserve nutrients and enhance digestibility for livestock. Secondly, in organic fertilizers.

Even in the cosmetics industry, research started in the fermentation of skin care products along with aromatics and flavours.

As for the chemical and industrial processes, bioplast production was being researched, and fermented solvents were being studied.

Overall, Sri Ram Reddy inadvertently caused a ginormous change in the Bharatiya Empire with his invention of Desi Cola. Even though he was not a chemist or an intellectual, he was respected throughout the community for his contribution, no matter how coincidental it may seem.