&w=3840&q=100)
'Mysore Pak' now 'Mysore Shree': Jaipur shops drop 'Pak' tag from sweets
In the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack and India's subsequent military action under ' Operation Sindoor", several iconic sweet shops in Jaipur have undertaken a symbolic rebranding of their traditional sweets. Popular confections that traditionally carried the suffix 'Pak' have been renamed with alternatives such as 'Shree' or 'Bharat,' reflecting a surge of national pride and solidarity.
At Jaipur's well-known Tyohaar Sweets, proprietor Anjali Jain spearheaded the initiative to remove 'Pak' from sweet names, replacing it with culturally resonant terms. 'The spirit of patriotism shouldn't just reside at the border but in every Indian home and heart,' Jain told news agency PTI.
-Mysore Pak → Mysore Shree
-Aam Pak → Aam Shree
-Gond Pak → Gond Shree
Also Read
-Swarn Bhasm Pak → Swarn Shree
-Chandi Bhasm Pak → Chandi Shree
-Moti Pak → Moti Shree
The shop's offerings, which number over 125 varieties, have long been a staple in Jaipur's festive culinary scene, and this swift rebranding illustrates how deeply current events can shape even traditional businesses.
A citywide trend of culinary rebranding
Tyohaar Sweets is not alone in showcasing this patriotic gesture. Other renowned establishments, including the decades-old Bombay Misthan Bhandar and Agarwal Caterers, have also dropped 'Pak' from their sweet names. Vineet Trikha, general manager of Bombay Misthan Bhandar, described the renaming as a 'sweet, symbolic retaliation,' saying, 'We wanted to send a clear message — those who dare raise their eyes against India will have their names erased, and every Indian will respond in their own way.'
Businessman Ramesh Bhatia echoed this sentiment, calling the gesture 'a powerful cultural response' that signals unity from the battlefield to civilian life, PTI reported. 'Changing the names of sweets may seem small, but it's a powerful cultural response,' he said. Retired teacher Pushpa Kaushik added, 'This initiative feels like a sweet salute to our soldiers — simple, symbolic, and heartfelt.'
Linguistic irony: 'Pak' has deep Indian roots
Despite the patriotic fervour, linguists have pointed out an ironic twist. The suffix 'Pak' in these sweets has no connection with Pakistan. Instead, it stems from ancient Indian culinary vocabulary. Times Now reported Abhishek Avtans, a linguist at Leiden University, as saying, 'Pak is from 'paka,' a Kannada word meaning sweet condiment. It shares the same root as Hindi 'pag' (sugar syrup), both deriving from Sanskrit 'pakva' meaning cooked or ripe.'
Mysore Pak, for example, originates from the royal kitchens of the Mysore palace in Karnataka, created by chef Kakasura Madappa during the reign of King Krishna Raja Wadiyar IV. The sweet's name commemorates its city of origin and its signature sticky sugar syrup that binds the ingredients, rather than any political association.
Karachi Bakery outlet in Hyderabad attacked
Earlier this month, a Hyderabad outlet of the 73-year-old Karachi Bakery came under attack days after renewed criticism over its name surfaced during heightened tensions between India and Pakistan. According to PTI, around 10 to 15 individuals assembled outside the bakery, chanting "anti-Pakistan slogans".
Rajesh and Harish Ramnani, owners of the bakery, told PTI that Karachi Bakery is a '100 per cent Indian brand', established by their grandfather Khanchand Ramnani in 1953 after migrating to India during the partition.
'We request Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and senior officers of administration to support to prevent any change in the name. People are putting up tricolour in the outlets of the bakery across the city. Kindly support us as we are an Indian brand and not a Pakistani brand,' they told PTI.
This is not the first time the bakery has come under fire. In 2019, following the Pulwama terror attack that killed 40 CRPF personnel, a group had stormed the Bengaluru Indiranagar outlet demanding a change in its name.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
News18
25 minutes ago
- News18
Himachal: Primary teachers end hunger strike after meeting education minister
Shimla, June 7 (PTI) Primary teachers in Himachal Pradesh ended their 43-day hunger strike on Saturday after the state government assured them that their demands would be addressed. A meeting was held here with Education Minister Rohit Thakur, and a consensus was reached on around 20-21 points, following which the teachers decided to end the strike. It was also decided that the directorate of primary and higher education was to remain the same. Apart from this, the government will also reconsider the suspended teachers, Thakur said, adding that the teachers were assured that their promotions would not be hindered. On March 28, the Himachal Pradesh cabinet approved the elevation of the directorate of elementary education to the directorate of school education. This new directorate would oversee education from pre-nursery to Class 12, while the directorate of higher education would be responsible for managing colleges and addressing all aspects of higher education. Following this decision, around 10 teachers were suspended for protesting, making derogatory remarks against the government and being absent from school. Jagdish Sharma, President of the Primary Teachers' Association of Himachal Pradesh, confirmed that the strike was called off after the meeting with Thakur. Sharma further stated that a committee is likely to be constituted to form a directorate of primary and higher education governed by a single director. First Published: June 07, 2025, 19:30 IST
Hindustan Times
26 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Himanta says drive to identify foreigners to be 'accelerated'; AAMSU protests 'harassment'
Guwahati, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday asserted that the process of identifying illegal foreigners, which was "paused" due to NRC-related matters, will be accelerated, even as protests were witnessed in different parts of the state during Eid prayers on Saturday over "pushback" and "harassment" of minorities in the name of detecting illegal immigrants. Sarma maintained that the state government was looking into the details of an old law, which allows it to "push back" the declared infiltrators without having to mandatorily approach the judiciary. Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a programme in Nalbari, Sarma said that a constitutional bench of the Supreme Court, while hearing a case on Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, had said that there is no legal requirement for the Assam government to always approach the judiciary in order to identify foreigners. "There exists an immigrants expel order, which is an old law. The Supreme Court has said that this law is in force and a deputy commissioner can give permission for immediate pushback under it," he maintained. "For whatever reason, our lawyers had not informed us and we too didn't know about it. The entire matter has come to light in the last few days. We will now discuss it further," he added. The chief minister said pushing back illegal migrants will continue, adding that the process of identifying foreigners, which had been paused due to NRC-related matters, will now be accelerated. "And when the identification of a foreigner happens, there will be no need to send the case to any tribunal. We will directly push them back. We have been preparing for it," he added. Sarma said the process of pushback will continue, though no person with a case pending before the court will be sent back. Meanwhile, members and supporters of the All Assam Minority Students' Union wore black badges and displayed placards against the purported recent pushback of Bangladeshis in the state. They carried out the protest in different parts, including Chirang and Jogighopa, after Eid namaz. AAMSU president Rejaul Karim Sarkar maintained that more intensified protests will be carried out if the government does not stop "harassment" of genuine citizens. "We have seen cases where the entire family is Indian but one member is taken away as an illegal foreigner. Such acts are against humanity. The government should stop harassment of genuine citizens, else we will carry out more agitations in a democratic manner," he said.
Indian Express
31 minutes ago
- Indian Express
‘Despite its flaws, the Collegium system preserves judicial independence,' says SC judge Justice Surya Kant
Strongly defending the collegium system of judicial appointments, Supreme Court judge Justice Surya Kant said on Saturday that, 'despite its imperfections, it serves as a crucial institutional safeguard … preserving the Judiciary's autonomy.' Speaking at Seattle University on the topic 'The Quiet Sentinel: Courts, Democracy, and the Dialogue Across Borders,' Justice Kant noted that the collegium 'significantly limits interference by the Executive and Legislature, thereby preserving the Judiciary's autonomy and insulating judges from extraneous pressures that could otherwise compromise their impartiality.' He acknowledged that the system 'has been subject to sustained criticism—particularly regarding the opacity of its deliberative processes and the lack of publicly articulated criteria—but recent efforts by the Supreme Court signal a growing commitment to enhancing transparency and public confidence in it.' Referring to proactive judicial interventions that advance constitutional compassion, he asked in his June 4 address, 'How far can courts go in shaping policy?' and 'Is judicial creativity a virtue or a vice?' 'The answer, I believe, lies in intent and integrity. When courts act to empower the powerless, grounded in constitutional text and moral clarity, they do not usurp democracy—they deepen it,' he said. Justice Kant conceded that the judiciary 'has not remained impervious to criticism that at times it breaches the fine line between judicial activism and judicial overreach' and added that 'in recent years, there has been a discernible shift toward greater institutional self-restraint in select domains. The Court has increasingly sought to nudge rather than command, and to engage with other branches of government in efforts to increase dialogic remedies. This evolving balance reflects an awareness that judicial authority is most enduring when it is exercised with a sense of humility—when the Court is seen not as an omnipotent arbiter but as a co-traveller in the democratic journey, grounded in constitutional values.' He described the judiciary as 'the sentinel of constitutional morality' and said it 'has been instrumental in shaping this very democracy's moral spine.' Recalling past challenges, Justice Kant observed that 'the Indian judiciary, too, traversed periods of profound trial and transformation. Particularly during the Emergency, the Court grappled with serious challenges to its independence and, at times, exhibited troubling deference to executive power. Yet, this phase of institutional strain gave way to a renewed judicial consciousness.' He added that 'the judiciary's evolving relationship with its own independence lies at the very heart of how India's vast, pluralistic democracy continues to function with remarkable cohesion. It is not merely the existence of judicial independence that is noteworthy, but rather the degree and contours of that independence—how it is asserted, negotiated, and exercised—that renders the Indian experience particularly distinctive within the global constitutional landscape.' On the role of courts in a democracy, he said, 'constitutional democracy is … a system where majorities are checked, where minorities are protected, and where principles cannot be sacrificed at the altar of popularity,' and 'in such a system, courts cannot function as mere referees.' He stressed, 'in a democracy as vast and diverse as India's, it is only when the judiciary wears its power lightly, and its conscience visibly, that it can remain not only the last word, but also a trusted voice among many in our collective democratic journey.' 'Judiciary may not be the most visible arm of the state, it may not command battalions or shape budgets, but it performs a task more difficult: it keeps alive the promise of justice. In India, this task has often been thankless, occasionally triumphant, and always essential. The judiciary is not a saviour; it is a sentinel. It does not march. It watches. And when necessary, it speaks—not to please, but to preserve.' Earlier, during a visit to the Washington State Supreme Court's Temple of Justice in Olympia on June 3, Justice Kant highlighted the SC's defence of free speech rights, noting that 'pre-censorship and vague notions of public order cannot trump the right to free expression,' and adding, 'these are not merely legal precedents; they are constitutional declarations—that democracy without dissent is a contradiction, and that silence in the face of injustice is not neutrality, but complicity.' Drawing parallels between the Indian and American judiciaries, he said, 'in both countries, the Judiciary has consistently pushed back against the temptation to suppress dissent under misguided and deceptive notions that the Executive may hold … Both our systems were designed not to trust power blindly, but to restrain it.' At a fireside chat at Microsoft Corporation headquarters on June 6, Justice Kant touched on the rise of technology such as artificial intelligence in the judicial process. He said he was 'firmly convinced that any contemplation of AI must be guided by a deep moral compass. Shaping the future demands more than innovation—it calls for an unwavering adherence to foundational values. Transparency, equity, responsibility, and respect for human dignity must not be afterthoughts, but the pillars upon which all technological advancement rests.' He warned that 'technology, if left unchecked, can reflect and reinforce societal inequities. AI is not a perfect technology and it can perhaps never replace the human element that the entire Rawlsian theory of justice hinges on,' and added, 'technology must remain subordinate to our higher commitments to fairness, equity, and human dignity' and 'must adapt to the lived realities of the people it seeks to serve.' Ananthakrishnan G. is a Senior Assistant Editor with The Indian Express. He has been in the field for over 23 years, kicking off his journalism career as a freelancer in the late nineties with bylines in The Hindu. A graduate in law, he practised in the District judiciary in Kerala for about two years before switching to journalism. His first permanent assignment was with The Press Trust of India in Delhi where he was assigned to cover the lower courts and various commissions of inquiry. He reported from the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court of India during his first stint with The Indian Express in 2005-2006. Currently, in his second stint with The Indian Express, he reports from the Supreme Court and writes on topics related to law and the administration of justice. Legal reporting is his forte though he has extensive experience in political and community reporting too, having spent a decade as Kerala state correspondent, The Times of India and The Telegraph. He is a stickler for facts and has several impactful stories to his credit. ... Read More
