Rooh Afza

Borrowed from Hindustani رُوح اَفْزا / रूह अफ़ज़ा (Rūh Afzā, literally “Soul Refresher”).

Rooh Afza

1. (trademark) A brand name for a concentrated syrup, commonly diluted with water or milk to create a squash which is widely popular in South Asia; manufactured by the pharmaceutical companies Hamdard Laboratories (India), Hamdard Laboratories (Waqf) Pakistan, and Hamdard Laboratories (Waqf) Bangladesh.
   • 2010 June 28, Sachin Kumar, “Across South Asia, this sweet drink is synonymous with summertime refreshment”, in Hindustan Times‎^[1], archived from the original on 5 January 2018:

     “Extending Rooh Afza consumption beyond the summer months, the drink is being promoted as an additive to increase at-home sales,” says Arshad Siddiqui, chief marketing officer. ¶ The company, which was established as a small Unani clinic in 1906 in old Delhi, developed Rooh Afza a year later.

   • 2018 June 4, Aina Khan, “How I Learned to Love Rooh Afza, the Pungent Rose Syrup of My Childhood”, in Vice‎^[2], archived from the original on 3 November 2023:

     The Indian subcontinent has been drinking Rooh Afza for over a century. […] Many South Asian desserts are flavoured with Rooh Afza, including kheer (a milky rice pudding) and falooda, which takes on a rose-coloured tint when its vermicelli and basil seeds are soaked overnight in Rooh Afza.

   • 2022 April 25, Sanam Maher, “In Pakistan, Rooh Afza scents memories and refreshes souls”, in Al Jazeera‎^[3], archived from the original on 25 April 2022:

     Hakim Abdul Majeed named this drink Rooh Afza – the soul refresher. […] That in the decades to come, Rooh Afza would travel far beyond the lanes of Old Delhi to 37 countries. […] That moment in Times Square was a bold announcement: Hamdard had global aspirations for Rooh Afza.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:Rooh Afza.