PAKISTAN and India have fought three wars and countless skirmishes, but as summers get hotter with climate change, their peoples are united by love for a cooling 115-year-old pink libation with a secret recipe.
The ultra-sweet concoction of herbs and fruits, Rooh Afza -- which translates as "refresher of the soul" -- has not only survived the 1947 partition of the two countries but thrived on both sides of the border.
On a furnace-hot recent day in Old Delhi, the formidable vendor Firoza chops up in a metal cauldron an ice block delivered to her by motorbike down the tight alleyways.
She then stabs the top of a bottle of Rooh Afza and squeezes in the viscous, lipstick-red concentrate before attacking a milk carton and adding that too, along with pieces of watermelon.
This is the 50-year-old's own special version, "Sharbat e Mohabbat" ("Drink of Love") -- every vendor has their own -- which she sells for 20 rupees ($0.25) per plastic goblet.
"We use more than 12 bottles of Rooh Afza and 20 boxes of milk, even 30 at times, and up to 40 when business is good," she told AFP in her booming voice, hoarse from hawking her elixir.
"I took over this shop a decade ago when my husband passed away. He started selling Rooh Afza here some 40-50 years ago. It's my only source of income."
- Topped with a date -
In Pakistan, the drink is a particular favourite in the holy month of Ramadan, when it is served as an evening thirst-quencher with the Iftar feast, when Muslims break their fast.
But served in desserts, milk and custards, it remains popular throughout Pakistan's summer season, during which temperatures hit 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit) earlier this year.
At one roadside stall in the megacity of Karachi, owner Muhammad Akram handles a hectic cash flow of dog-eared banknotes proffered by eager customers.
"A homeless man once suggested that if I blended Rooh Afza with diced watermelon it would be delicious," he told AFP. "The taste was marvellous."
At the same stall, Abdul Qahar works 12-hour shifts commanding a dozen staff serving tankards of Rooh Afza brimming with chunks of ruby watermelon, topped with a date and speared with a straw.
"It soothes the spirit," said 25-year-old housewife Neelam Fareed, who travelled five kilometres (three miles) on a moped with her husband just for a drink.
- Divided -
Rooh Afza was first sold in 1907 in Old Delhi, the congested heart of the Indian capital, by Hakim Hafiz Abdul Majeed, a traditional healing practitioner.
In 1947, with the partition of British India, one son stayed in Delhi while the other upped sticks for the new Pakistan.
They set up factories in each country -- as well as one in East Pakistan, which became Bangladesh in 1971 after a bloody independence war -- under two firms, Hamdard India and Hamdard Pakistan.
Hamid Ahmed, the great-grandson of the founder, who runs the Indian business, said the recipe had not changed in the last 115 years.
"It's a big secret; even the people at the factory will not know it... There would be, I think, three people who would know it," the 45-year-old told AFP with a chuckle.
- Bright future -
Apart from being served ice cold, the drink's blend of fruits and herbs is thought to help with the northern subcontinent's dusty summer winds, known as the loo.
Since South Asia is suffering ever-hotter summers, a phenomenon blamed on climate change, the future is bright -- for Hamdard's business prospects at least.
"I think with global warming, temperatures are increasing... the relevance of Rooh Afza is not going anywhere soon," Ahmed told AFP.
"Sales are increasing."
ETX Studio
Mon Jun 13 2022
![Pink 'soul refresher' unites wilting Indians and Pakistanis Pink 'soul refresher' unites wilting Indians and Pakistanis](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2022-06/41655098674_RoohAfza.jpg)
Pink 'soul refresher' drink unites wilting Indians and Pakistanis. - ETX Studio
![Lebih 1,600 premis PKS sertai program SOLVE 4 SME Lebih 1,600 premis PKS sertai program SOLVE 4 SME](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-08/71723651455_TBSOLVE.jpg)
Lebih 1,600 premis PKS sertai program "SOLVE 4 SME"
JKKP memaklumkan penyertaan itu melebihi sasaran jabatan itu dan telah memberi manfaat kepada 70,824 pekerja PKS.
![PRK Nenggiri: PN ada peluang menang, tapi jangan over-confident - Muhyiddin PRK Nenggiri: PN ada peluang menang, tapi jangan over-confident - Muhyiddin](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-04/51713678198_MuhyiddinYassin.jpg)
PRK Nenggiri: "PN ada peluang menang, tapi jangan over-confident" - Muhyiddin
Muhyiddin optimis dengan kemenangan calon PN, Mohd Rizwadi Ismail sekali gus mempertahankan kerusi DUN Nenggiri.
![Ahli ekonomi yakin pertumbuhan KDNK sekitar 5.8 peratus pada suku kedua 2024 Ahli ekonomi yakin pertumbuhan KDNK sekitar 5.8 peratus pada suku kedua 2024](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-06/81717305735_EkonomiMalaysia.jpg)
Ahli ekonomi yakin pertumbuhan KDNK sekitar 5.8 peratus pada suku kedua 2024
Kalangan ahli ekonomi yakin KDNK Malaysia bagi suku kedua 2024 akan berkembang pada 5.8 peratus berbanding 4.2 peratus pada suku pertama tahun ini.
AWANI Pagi: Berita tumpuan & menarik di astroawani.com [15 Ogos 2024]
Antara fokus AWANI Pagi bersama Nursyazwani Saiful Sham dan Afiezy Azaman
- Mayat lelaki di jambatan Klang dipercayai YouTuber Nidza Afham
- BNM denda Maybank, CIMB kerana gangguan perkhidmatan berpanjangan
- JIWA SME: Inovasi kuih sejuk beku jadi kudapan jemaah tunai umrah
#AWANInews #AWANIpagi
- Mayat lelaki di jambatan Klang dipercayai YouTuber Nidza Afham
- BNM denda Maybank, CIMB kerana gangguan perkhidmatan berpanjangan
- JIWA SME: Inovasi kuih sejuk beku jadi kudapan jemaah tunai umrah
#AWANInews #AWANIpagi
![Cisco akan kurangkan 7 peratus tenaga kerja globalnya Cisco akan kurangkan 7 peratus tenaga kerja globalnya](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-08/41723681507_Ciscologo.jpg)
Cisco akan kurangkan 7 peratus tenaga kerja globalnya
Langkah mengurangkan kakitangan itu dijangka melibatkan kos pra-cukai sehingga AS$1 bilion.
Jiwa SME: Kuih tradisonal sejuk beku 'diterbangkan' ke Tanah Suci
Inovasi pembuatan makanan sejuk beku, terutama kuih muih tradisional telah berjaya membawa produk itu ke peringkat global, terutama dalam memenuhi citarasa jemaah haji dan umrah rakyat Malaysia di Tanah Suci Mekah dan Madinah.
![Gol sulung Mbappe bantu Real Madrid juarai Piala Super UEFA Gol sulung Mbappe bantu Real Madrid juarai Piala Super UEFA](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-08/51723679998_KylianMbappe.jpg)
Gol sulung Mbappe bantu Real Madrid juarai Piala Super UEFA
"Ia adalah malam yang hebat. Ia adalah detik yang hebat untuk saya. Dan kami memenangi kejuaraan, yang penting - di Madrid anda perlu sentiasa menang."
![“I love you Am, bahagialah di syurga firdausi” - Aufahanie “I love you Am, bahagialah di syurga firdausi” - Aufahanie](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-08/51723679258_AufahanieNidzaAfh.jpg)
“I love you Am, bahagialah di syurga firdausi” - Aufahanie
Air mata Aufahanie sudah kering meratapi pemergian abang tercinta, Nidza Afham yang ditemui meninggal dunia selepas dilaporkan hilang.
Konsert jelajah: Taylor Swift teruskan konsert London selepas ancaman keganasan
Taylor Swift akan meneruskan persembahan di London pada Khamis, meneruskan jelajah konsert terbesar dunia di tengah-tengah kebimbangan keselamatan susulan cubaan serangan Daesh memaksa pembatalan tarikh konsert di Vienna, minggu lalu.
Taliban rai ulang tahun ketiga pemerintahan Afghanistan
Kerajaan Taliban semalam meraikan ulang tahun ketiga pemerintahannya di Afghanistan dengan perarakan tentera yang memberi penghormatan kepada bom buatan sendiri yang digunakan ketika peperangan, pesawat pejuang dan perbarisan pasukan keselamatan.