How a wife's clay pot gave birth to the legend of Rooh Afza

In the 1900s, when British Imperial Raj was digging its claws further into India through official coronation ceremonies, known as the Delhi Durbars of 1903 and 1911, Abdul Majeed walked back one evening to his home somewhere near Sitaram Bazaar in the walled city of Delhi, lost in deep thought.

Perhaps, as a man returning from his work would, he unfastened his 'Jama' almost mechanically.

Abdul Majeed’s father belonged to the rangrez (dyeing) community who had come to Delhi for work from what is now Uttar Pradesh. With effort and diligence, son Abdul Majeed learnt to become an ‘attar’. His job as an ‘attar’ was to crush ‘jadi-booti’ (herbs) and prepare medicines as advised by the Hakeems (doctors).

“He was working with the Hindustani Dawakhana of Hakeem Ajmal Khan. At night, he and his wife would crush almonds and extract oil to sell. He was enterprising and known to be hard-working,” says Farooq Argali, an Urdu writer who has seen the walled city through his eyes for over six decades now and has studied it deeply.

“That evening, however, he was disturbed. He had come across a small shop at Lal Kuan, at the mouth of Gali Qasimjan, which was up for sale and he was desperate to buy it. He wanted to start his business as ‘attar’ in that shop and manufacture medicines under his own label. But he did not have money.”

Abdul Majeed told his wife about his aspiration.

“He said, ‘Wish we had some money. I could have bought the shop’. She soon brought out a clay pot which he broke open to find money.”

Legend has it that Abdul Majeed looked at his wife incredulously and asked her about the origin of the money. They had been struggling to make ends meet, so a sudden jackpot came as a surprise.

Rooh Afza's old ad selling a bottle for one rupee and four annas 

“I would take some money from your pocket every now and then and store it for a rainy day,” she responded, says Argali.  

Abdul Majeed managed to buy the shop and so began the journey of Hamdard which would go on to become an iconic brand.

“Abdul Majeed’s son Abdul Hameed was a very hard-working man, and he was sharp, and understood the need of consumers well. He was the one who came up with the formula for Rooh Afza for people to beat the Delhi heat. Soon it became popular across the country and abroad,” says Feroz Dehlvi, a Delhi chronicler.

“Rooh Afza remains unmatched because they have stuck to quality and guarded it well. That is the reason why it has clicked for so long. Once everything is prepared, a member of the family comes and adds the juz (the gist or natural essence) to the preparation. That juz remains with the family,” adds Dehlvi.

Abdul Hameed, it was, who took Hamdard to a higher pedestal by setting up and investing in institutions. Hamdard literally means empathetic. Abdul Hameed ensured he set up institutions like Majeedia Hospital, Jamia Hamdard (Hamdard University) in Delhi’s Sangam Vihar, Hamdard Public School, Hamdard Education Society among others.

Abdul Hameed also set up the Hamdard Laboratories.

The fact that an ‘attar’ rose to make Hamdard the most popular ‘unani’ medicine company, which took philanthropy to a different level, is something that has put the rest of the Hakeem families behind.

One such family has descended from Hakeem Muhammad Shareef Khan, who lived in Mughal Delhi or Shahjahanabad in the 18th century and was patronised by the Mughal ruler Shah Alam II, and also given an estate. Shareef Khan and his descendants had also served the Maharaja of Patiala. One of Hakeem Shareef’s descendants went on to become the legendary practitioner, Hakeem Ajmal Khan of Hindustani Dawakhana fame.

While Shareef Khan’s formulae and treatment were recognised and considered to be among the best, they could never turn their clinic or their medical store into a roaring business.

An old newspaper ad of Rooh Afza using snow-capped mountains to put across the point  

Hamdard, on the other hand, brought out products like Rooh Afza and Safi to the market which turned them into a mega success.

“Over the years, companies like Himalaya, Dabur among others became bigger organisations and more successful businesses, but Hamdard survived on Rooh Afza. That drink saved them and still serves them well. There were many competitors. Dabur launched Sharbat-e-Azam in a grand manner through massive advertisements but they couldn’t compete,” says Ahmad Tameem, an official connected with Delhi cricket administration, a qualified doctor and a seventh-generation descendant of Hakeem Shareef Khan.

“The truth is that they had business sense and did well. None of the others, who were traditional Hakeems could make it that big because they probably lacked the willingness to expand, and maybe lacked business sense.”

Hamdard’s advertisements selling Rooh Afza go a long way back when only print medium was in vogue. They sold it as a drink to beat the summer heat. They also used television for it.

A Rooh Afza ad from the 1960s

“It’s no ordinary sharbat… The season’s special sharbat that fights summer heat,” says one of the newspaper advertisements from the 1960s. They were advertising in papers from the days when it was worth Rs 1.25.

They’ve also dared to experiment. When Tetra Pak packaging became popular through juice and cool drink brands, Hamdard jumped the bandwagon. Although their product was not really successful, the effort showed their willingness to adapt to times.

That they don’t need to change anything in Rooh Afza is clear with the popularity.

“The moment you open the bottle cap, and take in the aroma, you realise why it is what it is. It has remained so for decades and even now I feel relief,” says Ghulam Mohammad Argali, a printer and publisher as well as the son of Farooq Argali. 

(The writer is a sports, primarily cricket, journalist for over 20 years and has worked with Hindustan Times for over 17 years, and also IANS among others. He also has great interest in history and heritage)    

Tags : Hamdard, Rooh Afza, Mughal, walled city, Hakeem Abdul Majeed, Hakeem Abdul Hameed