Plight of Mysore Pak in A Resurgent Hindu India

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 26 May 2025 Amid rising India-Pakistan tensions, a Jaipur-based sweet shop has caught the attention of people for renaming several of its popular sweets. Tyohaar Sweets, known for its luxurious and handcrafted delicacies, has removed the word "Pak" from its menu, opting instead for the word "Shree." Famous Sweet "Mysore Pak" Renamed to "Mysore Sri" ----- Traditionally, in iconic sweets like Mysore Pak, the suffix "Pak" is linked to a sugary syrup (called pak in Kannada) used during cooking. In Sanskrit, 'Paka' simply means "to cook." Despite these linguistic origins having no connection to Pakistan, Tyohaar Sweets chose to drop "Pak" from its sweet names and Anjali Jain, owner of Tyohaar Sweets, told News18 that the decision was made "in the spirit of patriotism." This is taking things too far. I'm afraid this is not patriotism, but toxic nationalism. These brainless Hindus/Jains (they're also Hindus but disguised ones) don't know that the word 'Paak' (پاک) is of Persian origin which can be used as a prefix or Saabiqa (سابقہ) and also as a suffix or lAahiqa (لاحقہ). Persian and Sanskrit are sister tongues as Persian ain't a Semitic language. It's an Indo-European language written from right to left. Nearly 21,000 words in Sanskrit, Persian and Pahlavi (precursor to Persian) have common roots and origins. In archaic Persian, 'Paak' meant a concoction just like the Sanskrit word 'Paripaak' (well-cooked, well-mixed, a perfect combination or concoction). When the Persian word 'Paak' came to early Sanskrit, it had the same connotation, 'pure.' Since Vaidik Sanskriti put a great emphasis on the purity of what one eats, Paak got associated with the purity of food. So, the terms like Paak Kala/ Paak Vidya (cooking; culinary skills) sneaked into the corpus of Sanskrit. In short, a 'pure culinary creation/concoction' is called 'Paak.' Now these patriotic fools, not knowing the history of their own ancient languages and nuances of culture and heritage, are associating everything with Pakistan, Islam and Muslims. Where'll this lead us to? ---- A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URL: https://www.newageislam.com/current-affairs/mysore-pak-resurgent-hindu-india/d/135668 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism