Sharbat e Rooh Afza

Hamdard's Rooh Afza

Come the scorching hot summer season, the first thing that is sure to take its place in the refrigerators of every Indian & Pakistan household is a bottle of Rooh Afza . All of us savour the refreshing taste of Rooh Afza added to home made ice creams, milkshakes, yogurts and kheer made by our mothers. Rooh Afza's appeal has endured, even in a market that has, for a couple of decades now, been awash with American colas, Tetra pack juices, powdered drinks and commands nearly 50 % of the concentrated syrup market of India. Rooh Afza has specific Unani recipe which combines several ingredients popularly believed to be cooling agents, like roses, fruits, herbs and vegetables and was founded by Hakeem Hafiz Abdul Majeed in 1906 in Ghaziabad, India and is now manufactured by the companies founded by him and his sons under Hamdard Laboratories. Hakim Abdul Majeed was a physician of Unani herbal medicine and after having consultation with his wife set up an herbal shop at his House Qazi in Delhi in 1906, After few days he started to produce herbal medicine there and  In 1907 he came up with Rooh Afza from an establishment at Lal Kuan in Old Delhi.

The history of Hamdard has, in a way, followed the history of the subcontinent, In 1947 when India and Pakistan were separated, the elder son stayed in India while the younger son migrated to Pakistan and started a separate Hamdard from two rooms in Karachi,Pakistan. Similarly, when East Pakistan broke away in 1971, the branch of Hamdard that had been set up in Dhaka in 1953 turned into Hamdard Laboratories, Bangladesh. Like any lasting and successful Brand, Rooh Afza has passed through moments of anxiety and uncertainty. But Rooh Afza strived the hard times by reinventing and refreshing the Brand over time but sticking to its USP of “ Healthy Alternative” and has performed well with health conscious customers.

To reinvent the Brand Rooh Afza roped in Juhi Chawla in 1990’s to be its Brand Ambassador. In 2009, Hamdard commissioned cookbook author Nita Mehta to devise 30 recipes inspired by the drink. The Relishing Recipes From Rooh Afza, a bottle-shaped booklet was launched with testimonials from women thanking the syrup.Internationally renowned Chef Tommy Miah  signed a deal with Rooh Afza  to promote it in various dishes.

The distinctive taste, fragrance and color has not only made Roof Afza popular among common people, but also inspired the writers and poets to make it a theme of their creative efforts. the refreshing color and taste of Rooh Afza inspired famous 20th century Urdu poet to write the following beautiful verses:

Jo rang dekho to dilruba hai,
Maza jo chakkho to janfaza hal;
Mahak main phoolon se bhi ziyadah.
Asar main iksir-e-be-baha hai;
Jo is main tafrith-o-taquiyat hai,
Na us ki ghayat, na intiha hai;
Na rooh afza sa kai sharbat,
Kabhi baneyga na ban chuka hai;

Rooh Afza is a drink that has not only soothed the souls of people since decades but has also strengthened the brotherhood  and peace by becoming an inseparable part of Chabeel in India and Ramadan in Pakistan.

Sa'il dhalvi is very apt in saying 

            "Never has there been a sharbat like Rooh Afza, and never will there be."