The Politics Of Protest: 5 Swadeshi Products That Taught Us How To Boycott

Earlier this year, my friend and I were hanging out at her apartment in New Delhi when we felt like going out for food. McDonald’s was out of question; so was Burger King. Dominos? No. Starbucks?

“Let’s not even go there,” my friend said.

I knew what she meant, both literally and in a much deeper sense. It was May. We were eight months into the new 'nakba' — Israel's genocidal war on the Palestinian population in Gaza. Brutal images of dead and internally displaced Palestinian men, women, and children in the bombed-out Gaza strip were seared onto our screens and on the back of our eyelids. Like many people across the world, we were both committed to the Palestinian-led BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) movement — a popular international effort that uses the historically successful method of targeted boycotts inspired by the South African anti-apartheid movement, the US Civil Rights movement, and the Indian anti-colonial struggle, among others worldwide, to hold complicit corporations (and institutions) accountable for supporting Israel’s violations of the rights of the Palestinian people.

Concerted efforts to force acceptance of certain conditions or enact social change through the individual and collective act of boycotting targeted goods, products, and services from certain corporations, institutions, or even countries, has a long history in the Global South. From freedom-fighters in India to anti-Apartheid activists in South Africa, people have used the act of boycotting as a powerful and effective instrument of non-violently asserting, advocating, and fighting for their rights and causes.

In the Indian subcontinent, the act of boycotting as a form of non-violent protest has also led to the rise of protest products — homegrown alternatives to boycotted products — as another instrument of exerting pressure on complicit organisations, corporations, institutions, and individuals. From traditional textiles to homegrown cola, here are some South Asian products that emerged out of protest movements and taught us how to boycott:

Khadi — The Homegrown Textile That Became A Popular Instrument And De Facto Uniform Of Anti-Colonial Protest During The British Raj

From the Bronze Age until the early 19th century, India was a powerhouse of textile-making. With a long history of cotton cultivation and processing going back to the time of the Indus Valley Civilisation, many diverse, regional weaving traditions flourished in India during pre-modern times. Cotton and pashmina textiles were exported to Rome through the Silk Roads, and Arabian merchants traded precious fabrics with Basra and Baghdad in the Middle-East from Gujarat, the Coromandel Coast, and the East Coast of India. In the colonial period, however, India's textile traditions dwindled and many precious fabrics — like the fabled Bengal Muslin — virtually disappeared from the market. In the early 20th century, India's homegrown hand-spun and woven cotton textile traditions were at their rock-bottom when khadi emerged as a potent visual symbol of India's resistance against British colonial power.

Rooh Afza — The Soul Refreshing 'Summer Drink Of The East'

The 20th century was the century of the 'cola', or carbonated non-alcoholic cold drinks. While Coca-Cola — the American cola invented by Confederate Colonel and pharmacist John Pemberton in 1886 — was spreading through the Americas and Europe like a great deluge, Hakeem Hafeez Abdul Majeed, a Unani or traditional Muslim medicine practitioner, came up with Rooh Afza, India's very own homegrown non-alcoholic summer cooler, in 1907. Like Coca-Cola, Rooh Afza, too, was originally marketed as a medicinal concoction offering many health benefits — primarily, relief from the extreme heat of the region. Before Thums Up came and conquered the throne of India's favourite homegrown cola in the 1970s, Rooh Afza was the undisputed king of Indian summer drinks in the 20th century.

Boroline — The Perfumed Cream For The 20th-Century Indian Woman

The Swadeshi movement marked a significant escalation in India's struggle for self-rule and self-sufficiency in the early 20th century. It was formally initiated from Town Hall in Kolkata (then Calcutta) on 7 August 1905 to reduce Indians' dependence on foreign goods by boycotting British products and encouraging domestic production instead. Gandhi described self-sufficiency as the soul of 'swaraj' (self-rule), and many Indian industrialists and innovators responded by coming up with 'swadeshi', or homegrown, alternatives to imported goods. Boroline (yes, the one and same Boroline every Bengali mother and grandmother still swears by) was one of these swadeshi products.

Sulekha Ink — A Homegrown Ink To Write Our Own History

Among the many iconic homegrown brands that emerged during the Swadeshi movement, Sulekha Ink was one that became synonymous with the freedom movement because of its storied origin. The ink was literally developed by freedom fighters in modern-day Bangladesh. Proceeds from its sale were often used to fund anti-colonial activities. At a time when the Indian market was dominated by imported inks like Parker Quink, Pelikan, and Waterman, Sulekha Ink gave Indians the opportunity to write their own history — in their own ink.

Fun fact: you can still buy a bottle (or ten!) of this iconic Indian ink here.

The Godrej Vatni Soap — The Swadeshi Soap For The Motherland!

The Swadeshi movement was all-pervasive in its reach — virtually all echelons of Indian society were involved with the movement in some way or other. The Godrej Vatni soap was one among the many protest products that were born in the nationalist fervour of the Swadeshi movement. In order to promote the 'swadeshi' origin of the soap and encourage Indians to buy it, Godrej wrapped it in green and white packaging with the words: “Made in India, for Indians, by Indians”. The wrapper of the soap carried the map of undivided India for many years even after Independence and the country’s Partition. The soap was originally sold for three aana per bar — which was less than one-fourth of a rupee at the time. While the 'Vatni' brand no longer exists, Godrej soaps are still as popular as ever.

The Swadeshi movement was so successful because it not only encouraged Indians to boycott British goods and services, but it also provided Indians with alternative choices to those products, just as many other homegrown products continue to do so today.

The genocide in Gaza is a crime against humanity and we should all try to hold those aiding and abetting it in any way accountable. The BDS movement is only a part of that process — but it is one that is actionable and achievable by normal people like you and me. The International Criminal Court has already issued arrest warrants against the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, and hopefully, history will hold them accountable and judge them harshly. In the meantime, though, there's a lot we can do individually.

Sometimes, it's as simple as choosing this over that.

If you enjoyed reading this, here's more from Homegrown:

Swadeshi Identity & Bengali Nostalgia: The History Of India's First Antiseptic Cream

How India's First Homegrown Ink Company Was Born During The Swadeshi Movement

From Swadeshi Movement to CAA - A History Of Student Protests In India