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.”
In Pakistan, the drink is a particular favorite 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.
