The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), India’s leading Hindu cultural group, has developed Gau Jal (or Cow Water) at its research centre in the Indian holy city of Haridwar on the River Ganges, and hopes it will be marketed “as a healthy alternative to Coke and Pepsi”.
Hindus worship cows for their life-sustaining dairy products, but many also consume bovine urine and faeces in drinks and spice mixes for their ‘health-giving’ properties.
In some Indian states, cow dung and urine are sold in regular dairy shops alongside milk and yogurt, and Ayurvedic Indian health food companies make porridge, toothpaste and tonic drinks that claim to cure ailments ranging from liver complaints to diabetes and cancer. The urine is also believed to have disinfectant properties, while the dung is used in many Indian village huts as a clean and antiseptic flooring.
The RSS’s Cow Protection Department has invented a urine-based soft drink it hopes will promote its health-giving properties to a wider market. “We refer to gau ark (cow urine) as gau jal (cow water), as it has immense potential to cure various diseases,” said director, Om Prakash. “We’ve developed a soft drink formula with gau jal as the base, and it has been sent to a laboratory at Lucknow for testing.”
Prakash added that it would be launched “very soon, maybe by the end of this year”.
His team is now focusing on packaging, marketing, and of course preservation to stop its curative drink from going whiffy in the summer heat.
“Don’t worry, it won’t smell like urine. And will be tasty, too,” added Prakash. “Its USP will be that it’s going to be very healthy. It won’t be like carbonated drinks and would be devoid of any toxins.”
The drink is the latest attempt by the RSS – which was founded in 1925 and now claims eight million members – to cleanse India of foreign influence and promote its ideology of Hindutva, or Hindu-ness.
In 2001, the RSS and its offshoots – which include the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party – began promoting cow urine as a cure for ailments ranging from liver disease to obesity and even cancer.
The movement has often been accused of using violent methods. It also has a history of targeting foreign business in India, as in 1994, when it organised a nationwide boycott of multinational consumer goods, including Pepsi and Coca-Cola.
The international cola brands are popular in India, now one of their biggest markets, but have struggled in recent years to shake off allegations, which they deny, that they contain dangerous levels of pesticide.
Mr Prakash said his drink, by contrast, was made mainly of cow urine, mixed with a few medicinal and Ayurvedic herbs. He said it would be “cheap”, but declined to give further details about its price or ingredients until it was officially launched.
He insisted, however, that it would be able to compete with the American cola brands, even with their enormous advertising budgets. “We’re going to give them good competition as our drink is good for mankind,” he said. “We may also think of exporting it.
“It will be a revolution of sorts. The acceptance of cow urine as a potent medicine is increasing day by day, and once it comes as a cold drink, its demand will definitely increase. It will prove and justify the high stature accorded to a cow in Indian culture.”
Source: The Telegraph, TimesOnline
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