Inspired by Mahatma Gandhi's Swadesh movement, a Dawoodi Bohra Muslim bottler Mohsin Hajoori gave up bottling for the British.
With his defiance, India got its first Swadesh drink, Sosyo, whose foundation was laid in Surat in 1923 by Hajoori's brother Abbas.
An item of protest then, the dark beverage, which is today marketed as "apna desh, apna drink," has a new-found visibility in the refrigerator of Ismael Usman, a restaurant owner in South Mumbai's bustling Bhendi Bazaar. Glued just above the cash-counter in Usman's joint is a small paper-bill urging customers to boycott Israeli and US products, including beverages Coca Cola and Pepsi.
"We do not want to strengthen the hands of the killers of humanity," reads the bill that also lists Nestle and Nescafe.
Over the past week, bottles of Sosyo, and other regionally marketed beverages-- such as the MASST range of Indore-based UNO Foods, and the Big Cola, marketed by Peruvian company AJE--have replaced Coca Cola and Pepsi in many restaurants across Mumbai. This boycott of these products is part of the protest led by shops and hoteliers in Mumbai against the Israeli offensive against Palestine in Gaza.
A longer list of boycotted products--including garment, chocolates and beauty products--are being share via social social networking sites Facebook and Twitter. Though the intent of the boycott is to hit the economic interests of Israel, Usman says the main agenda is to send across a strong message."It is wrong. We condemn the atrocities of Israel," he said.
While the hoteliers are losing out on business, as Coca Cola and Pepsi are popular beverages, they expressed no qualms over the loss of revenue. Since he adopted the boycott, Usman has witnessed a daily shift of Rs 10,000-15,000 in sales. For bigger joints, he says, the shift is more than Rs. 20,000 per day.
Over a 1,000 hotels in the city have joined the protest, says Omear Sheikh, an office-bearer of the Indian Hoteliers Association, one of the organizations behind the boycott. "This is not a community based protest but based on humanity. We are urging all groups to join hands. The number is rising daily," he said. The boycott will continue post Eid celebrations, he added.
Coca Cola termed the protest as "self-damaging" to the local economy given the its scale of business. It is too early to access the (financial) impact of the boycott, said Kamlesh Sharma, public relations director of Coca Cola. "They have chosen the wrong symbol of protest. Coca Coca is still selling in Palestine," he said.
The local companies, however, aren't complaining as they expect a rise in demand and revenue.
Sanjay Mistry, regional manager of Hajoori and Sons, which manufactures Sosyo, said, "a marginal rise of 2-5 percent in revenue is what we expect," but the actual figures will be clear if the boycott sustains.
Ritesh Sachar, general manager, UNO Foods, said though he expected to gain from the boycott he feels there are too many local players involved for anyone to singularly benefit from the situation
