In this episode of That’s the Thing, Jimmy, Kavya, and Atharva trace the story of a drink that’s as familiar as the fridge door you were scolded for leaving open. Rooh Afza—part Unani medicine, part summer memory—has travelled from 1906 Delhi to iftar tables, school holidays, and millions of kitchen shelves across South Asia..

You know the scene. The fan is on full. The kids are back from the sun, dusty and loud. Someone’s yelling about a sixer. Someone’s sprawled under the fan. The fridge opens—too long.

Inside is a jug of Rooh Afza. Cold. Pink. Just sweet enough.

In 1906, in the blistering heat of Delhi, Hakim Hafiz Abdul Majeed crafted a syrup to cool the body against the loo —the dry, hot gusts of North Indian summers. A Unani antidote. Herbal. Fragrant. Fortifying. His wife, Rabia Begum, helped name it—drawing from the Persian Masnawi Gulzarein Naseeb, where Rooh Afza was a celestial figure. Daughter of heaven.

It was more than marketing. It was storytelling in a bottle.

The Hamdard empire grew. But history split the subcontinent—and the Hamdard family. One brother stayed in India. Another went to Pakistan. One pillar. Two homes. Two versions of Rooh Afza. Same name, same flavour, same purpose. Both branches were turned into charitable trusts, preserving the name Hamdard as a mission, not just a brand.

By 2023, over 4 crore bottles of Rooh Afza were sold annually. Still made with 30 ingredients, from herbs and roots to fruits and flowers. Still pink. Still poured into milk, lemon water, or just cold water.

More than just a drink, it has become part of the everyday rhythm of summer, ritual, and memory.

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Credits

Produced by Jimmy Xavier.

Radio Azim Premji University: Akshay Ramuhalli, Bruce Lee Mani, Gorveck Thokchom, Kishor Mandal, Kruthika Rao, Narayan Krishnaswamy, Prashant Vasudevan, Ram Seshadri, Sananda Dasgupta, Seema Seth, Shraddha Gautam, Supriya Joshi, and Velu Shankar, Shraddha Gautam, Supriya Joshi, and Velu Shankar.