BHUBANESWAR:An unsavoury one-upmanship has ensued between Odisha and West Bengal over Rasagola, as to which of the two states was the first to invent it. Dossiers are out, committees formed, claims and counter-claims are flying thick and fast as both are engaged in a slugfest over the delectable syrup-dripping globes. Sadly,it is getting dirtier by the day. It all started when the Bengalis took umbrage to Odisha’s attempt to get a Geographical Identification (GI) tag for ‘Rasagola of Pahala’, the famous highway stop between Bhubaneswar and Cuttack that has spawned a lineage of typical sweet-makers.
A fiery campaign followed to prove the Bengali right over the sweet. Reams are being devoted to assert and reassert the proprietorship of the national dessert. “Rossogolla is Bengal and vice-versa. It was invented by Nobin Chandra Das, the Columbus of Rossogolla, at his sweet shop in Kolkata in 1868. There is documentary proof,” screams the Bengali pride even as Mamata Didi has readied a dossier on the historicity to push its claim before the GI registration wing.
But the Odias are unrelenting. Rasagola has been associated with Lord Jagannath temple since the 12th century, albeit in a cruder version known as “Kheeramohana” then. However, researchers claim recorded evidence dating back to 300 years that ‘Rasagola’ was offered by Lord Jagannath to appease his wife Goddess Laxmi during Niladri Bije, which marked the deities’ return to the temple on culmination of the Rath Yatra.
The angry outbursts of legislators in the State Assembly over the “blatant attempt to hijack our heritage,” has prompted the Naveen Patnaik Government to form not one but three committees to counter West Bengal’s claim and validate Odisha’s stand.
The two states have a history of fight over ownership, be it of personalities or legacies. They have unending issues over Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, who was born in Cuttack, or over the birthplace of Sanskrit poet Jaydev, author of the epic Gita Gobinda.
As the latest spar rises to ludicrous levels, a mountain has been made of a molehill. The plan of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Department of Odisha to get GI registration for the ‘Pahala Rasagola’ variety has been blown up to show as if the proprietorship of whole Rasagola itself is being claimed. A GI tag identifies a product or a specific variant of a particular product to the place of its origin. It essentially helps in branding of the product corresponding to its unique quality and place of production. The intention behind GI tagging of Pahala Rasagola was to organise and improve the local enterprise to make it export-ready. The MSME Department has drawn up an ambitious plan to promote the product in international markets by enhancing quality and packaging.
The GI tag would only provide the credence for exports. GI status has been accorded to different varieties of similar products. Take Darjeeling tea or Kangra tea; Chanderi saree, Pochampalli saree; Mysore silk or Kancheepuram silk for example. Has the original product, either the tea or the saree, been usurped by one particular entity? There are mouth-watering varieties of Biryani spread across the length and breadth of the country, from Lucknowi to Hyderabadi, Kolkata to even the Cuttacki. Will a GI status for one affect the whole essence of Biryani?
Unfortunately, a noble initiative is getting lost in the unnecessary fuss over the origin of Rasagola, which the MSME Department doesn’t even intend to tamper with. The US-based culinary historian and food writer Michael Krondl, who has delved deep into the food fight over Rasagola in his book, Sweet Invention, sums it up aptly. “Quite frankly, my advice to everyone in West Bengal and Odisha is to declare Rasagola or Rossogolla a shared heritage, something to bring the two regions together rather than pulling them apart. There’s enough real war in the world for anyone to fight over a delicious dessert.”