E-Paper
Taste of Life: How sugar garlands became symbols of swadeshi pride
Appeals from swadeshi goods grew stronger in Maharashtra around festivals, especially Shimaga (Holi) and Gudhi Padwa, when it was customary to give children strings of sugar confections called “sakharechya gathi” on Shimaga
PUNE: A plate of food is never truly apolitical. It is a complex record of history, trade, and power. What we eat is shaped by politics, by the crops governments support, by the goods nations import, by the access to basic sustenance communities have, and by the ideas that societies hold about religion, caste, gender, ethics, and livelihood.
This deeply political nature of food becomes especially visible during cultural and religious celebrations. The dishes prepared on these occasions often reflect older histories of empire, resistance, and nationalist pride. Ingredients, recipes, and rituals carry the imprint of trade routes, colonial policies, and movements that urged people to favour local produce.
Beginning August 1905, several Marathi newspapers published a large number of articles and letters for decades, urging their readers to boycott “foreign” goods, especially clothes and sugar, and use the “swadeshi” variety instead. They requested greater participation in the Swadeshi Movement and reminded readers that it was a time when their patriotism was being tested.
The Swadeshi Movement, which began in 1905 in response to the Partition of Bengal, enjoyed great support from the common people when it was initiated with a call to boycott foreign clothes. Sugar soon entered this debate. Much of the refined sugar sold in Indian markets was imported, and nationalist leaders and newspapers encouraged people to avoid it.
Such appeals grew stronger in Maharashtra around festivals, especially Shimaga (Holi) and Gudhi Padwa, when it was customary to give children strings of sugar confections called “sakharechya gathi” on Shimaga. These “sakharechya gathi” were garlands made of small sugar medals, worn around the neck like ornaments before being eaten with delight.
Gudhi Padwa falls on Chaitra Shuddha Pratipada, a date also known as “Varshapratipada”, marking the beginning of the “Shalivahan Shaka” year. In many parts of India, “Chaitra Pratipada” is observed as the start of the New Year.
On this day, people in Maharashtra bathe in warm water and consume neem leaves as part of household rituals. A “gudhi” is then erected at the entrance of the home: a bamboo staff is draped with a silk cloth or a saffron flag, topped with an inverted silver or brass vessel, and adorned with a garland of neem leaves, “sakharechya gathi”, and flowers.
When “sakharechya gathi” began to be placed on the “gudhi” is not clearly known. Since “Gudhi Padwa” follows close on the heels of “Shimaga”, it is likely that the sugar garlands came to be tied to the “gudhi” as part of the same festive cycle.
The early twentieth century witnessed discussions centered at “swadeshi” sugar and “sakharechya gathi”. In 1908, during Shimaga, traders, shopkeepers, and other residents of Malvan passed a resolution to boycott foreign sugar. Anyone who violated the resolution was fined between five and ten rupees. Within a short time, the consumption of imported sugar in the town fell to almost nothing. That year, “sakharechya gathi” were not a part of the celebrations at all because the town did not have enough “swadeshi” sugar to manufacture those.
In “Kesari”, dated October 5, 1908, Justice Narayan Ganesh Chandavarkar reminded readers of this boycott and urged them to promote it without hesitation. His appeal had an immediate effect in several places, strengthening the movement to adopt “swadeshi” sugar.
A gentleman signing himself “X” wrote to “Kesari” in February 1909, pointing out that the demand for these sugar garlands rose sharply during the festivals of Shimaga and Gudhi Padwa. The problem, he argued, was that sufficient “swadeshi” sugar was not available for their preparation. As a result, these confections were made from imported sugar. Rather than use such sugar, he suggested, it would be better not to make and buy the garlands at all. The absence of sugar garlands during Shimaga or Padwa, he wrote, would cause no injury to religion; the real danger lay in purchasing garlands made from foreign sugar. He therefore urged people to exercise restraint. Foreign sugar had already been used during Makar Sankranti, he noted, but it should at least be avoided during the upcoming festivals.
In the princely states of Bhor and Phaltan near Pune, the festivals of Gudhi Padwa and Ram Navami were celebrated on a grand scale. Elaborate feasts were arranged, and thousands of people gathered to dine, which meant that a large amount of sugar was consumed. “Kesari” published another letter offering advice on this matter. The writer, who signed himself “Punekar Bhikshuk,” suggested that instead of using sugar produced with the help of animal blood, people should rely on “swadeshi” sugar. Alternatively, he added, families could follow their traditional custom of preparing “puran poli”, which was made using jaggery and required no sugar, until sufficient quantities of pure indigenous sugar became available.
At the time, certain beliefs about sugar were widely circulated. Indigenous sugar was regarded as pure and “holy” , while imported sugar was viewed with suspicion. It was said that foreign sugar was whitened with powdered cow bones or even the blood of cattle.
No wonder there was a belief that consuming foreign sugar could lead to religious defilement. Since the people who manufactured it were supposedly neither Hindus nor members of their own caste, sugar manufactured by their hands was considered improper to eat.
Even though sugar had been manufactured in India from time immemorial, the supply produced in India till much of the early twentieth century was not sufficient to meet the demands of the large Indian population.
The “white” sugar imported to India was almost entirely consumed by Europeans. Some “yellow” and muscovado sugar was manufactured in India by factories generally financed and controlled by Europeans, and largely sold in the bazaars. The “swadeshi” sugar was a fine variety of yellow sugar. It was expensive and made by native processes by the natives.
It was widely believed that all yellow sugar was “swadeshi” and it was only the “crystal white variety” that came from “foreign lands”. But in the first few decades of the twentieth century, thousands of tons of yellow sugar were imported every year from Java and elsewhere.
The bright white garlands made from imported sugar were more visually appealing than the yellow ones. It was only natural that people were drawn to them. Calls to boycott “sakharechya gathi” made from imported sugar continued well into the mid-twentieth century.
In 1928, VD Savarkar, the Hindu nationalist leader, wrote an article in the Marathi magazine “Shraddhananda” elucidating his idea of the Indian national flag that featured saffron and the symbols of “kundalini”, “kirpan”, and the letter “Om”. A few years later, he initiated a campaign to include the saffron flag in the Gudhi Padwa rituals. The flags, considered symbols of valour, were distributed to several Hindu households in Maharashtra by the Hindu Mahasabha volunteers and were meant to replace the silk cloth, considered feminine, on the bamboo staff of the “gudhi”.
Savarkar also renewed the discussion around using “swadeshi” sugar. By then, sugar factories were operating in places like Belapur, and the supply of indigenous sugar had increased. But sugar was still being imported. “Sakharechya gathi” continued to stay in focus till India achieved independence.
This is how what people placed on the “gudhi” or offered to their children became a statement of conviction. It reflected a growing belief that the path to national self-respect began with everyday acts in the home and the kitchen.
