THE PREVALENT ROSE OF PARTITION

Written by Rika Mokal

In 1907, met with the rays of an unapologetic

sun, a herbalist in Old Delhi concocted a rose-

red drink to help quench the thirst of his

patients. As the scent of this novel drink

drifted through the neighbouring bazaar of

Hakim, the herbalist’s clinic, word seemed to

spread speedily and a crowd gathered to taste

the remarkable red concentrate.

And it was unmistakable: Hakim had crafted a

drink that would bring about the rise of a

scarlet empire.

Unfortunately, Hakim would not witness the

people of the world hold their breath with

ecstasy as his drink rejuvenated their blood

and souls alike. Hakim would also miss the

brutal bloodshed of partition, which led to the

separation of India as he knew it, as well as his

sons; the older son stayed in India while the

younger son migrated to Karachi, Pakistan,

where the legacy of his father’s sharbat

continued and survived the severity of a

violent partition.

The name of this sharbat is most often seen as

written in Urdu: افزا روح Here, ‘Rooh’ (روح(

means ‘soul’ while ‘Afza’ (افزا (means ‘to

refresh’. This widely popular sharbat does not

disappoint when it comes to the validity of its

name and is commonly used during the Holy

month of Ramadan, by Muslims all over the

world.

There is a tale told in the streets of Old Delhi, of an

abandoned clinic that smells of roses. For the older

folk, it incites a sense of fondness fuelled by nostalgia

while for the younger folk, the unidentifiable sweet

scent of roses becomes cause for mystery. Though the

clinic is not surrounded by roses, though its roof is

caved-in and its walls are cracking, the memory of

Hakim’s Rooh Afza survived the effects of time and

gave itself a home amongst the ruins of its maker.