WB, Odisha caught in not-so-sweet battle

Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal is not going to give in so easily either. Banerjee herself and her government have firm conviction that the origin dates back to the 19th century and the quintessential Bengali delicacy was created by Nabin Chandra Das, a famous sweetmeat-maker in 1868 period

Kolkata: The bitter battle between two east Indian States over the origin of India's famous and delectable sweet seems far from over. For records, on November 14, 2017, the Geographical Indications (GI) Registry had announced that the 'Rasgulla', synonymous with the Bengali identity, originated in West Bengal and not Odisha. After protracted, pitched legal and social battle, Odisha too received a GI tag for its own version of the milk-based sweet. According to the certificate from the Geographical Indication Registry of the Government of India, the Odisha Small Industries Corporation Limited (OSIC) and Utkala Mistanna Byabasayee Samiti (Utkala Sweetmakers Business Body) will be the proprietors for Odisha's rasgulla. This came two years after West Bengal had got the same.

Interestingly however, the matter did not end there and the battle is yet to be over. The political leadership and social activists in Odisha now want 'rasgulla' to be re-branded and recognised as 'Jagannath Rasgulla' for all practical purposes, even as the two State governments celebrate 'rasgulla divas' amidst much fanfare separately in their respective States- each year on the day of receiving the GI tag. Interestingly, the sweet is spelt differently in the two neighbouring States. While it is rasgulla in Bengal, in Odisha it is rasagola.

Debashis Misra, a senior independent journalist and social activist, explained, "The logic of the government functionaries here and the people of Odisha is simple. And you don't need any rocket science to understand that. See, Lord Jagannath had been there long before the city of Kolkata even existed. And according to the age-old customs, Rasgulla was offered to Lord Jagannath at Puri temple during a special occasion. So anyone can understand that it has a unique position in our socio-religious firmament. It may therefore be justified to change the tag to 'Jagannath Rasgulla'.

Mamata Banerjee government in Bengal is not going to give in so easily either. Banerjee herself and her government have firm conviction that the origin dates back to the 19th century and the quintessential Bengali delicacy was created by Nabin Chandra Das, a famous sweetmeat-maker in 1868 period. Subhojit Roy, founder, Connections, a leading brand and image consultancy firm, does not find anything wrong in the development.

"There are often multiple products of similar nature in the market belonging to or under multiple brands.

That's all but natural. Let there be a healthy competition and both the brands improve in the process. If that happens, customers stand to gain, at the end of the day. Let both the States come up with their own, improved, healthy and hygienic versions of rasgulla under their brand names. Let the customers decide which way to go."

Majority of the sweetmeat makers have something different to say. They often wonder how come Odisha got the GI tag for a product that had already got a tag for a product originated in Bengal. Rasgulla is rightfully Bengal's own, they would say. Siddhartha Ghosh, owner, Milkberry Foods, for one, has a somewhat different opinion. "Whatever has happened has happened for good. Now there will be two different and unique positioning of the two products. The two will be two distinctly different products depending on their recipe, preparation process, flavour, ingredients and tastes. Let consumers be the king," said Ghosh.

Robin Ghosh, founder, Bangla Misti Academy and banglarmistionline, pointed out, "Even within Kolkata and within Bengal, there are rasgullas of different sizes, shapes, recipes, tastes coming out from different brand's stable. In some cases, they are spongier, in some cases, they are not. In some cases, the sweet syrup is thicker and in some cases it comes with diluted syrup, so on and so forth."

Even as this debate continues, from the consumers' point of view, what really matters is celebrating and enjoying the sweet and its heavenly taste in all its forms.