Rose by any other name

You are in time to witness the most beautiful season of rosesrdquo Shashwat Dubey of Komal Ram Prem Narain a major producer of gulkand tells us over the telephone We are in Lucknow for a summer break and close to Kanauj where the best gulkand comes from This fourthgeneration entrepreneur is a 26yearold commerce graduate from Kanpur University and happy to share stories about the making of gulkand the natural way something he has watched since he was a boy ldquoWe call it the Chaitri gulab spring rose when the flowers are in full bloom from March to May coinciding with Chaitra ritu spring of the Indian calendarrdquo he saysThe next thing we know we are on the LucknowAgra expressway at 5 am the next day Shashwat arrives on his bike and meets us at the bus adda at 7 am to help navigate the narrow bylanes lined with burntbrick structures on either side The lanes are lsquokacchi sadakrsquo laden with mud and cow dung We arenrsquot the first ones here With more than 200 local perfume distilleriesmdashmost with a rich legacymdashsome of the worldrsquos best perfumers have walked the lanes to get their hands on the famous Kannauj attarLocally called Chiniya gulab the Damascus or Damask rose is known for its heady fragrance and antioxidant antibacterial and antimicrobial properties It is prized for its balanced content of geraniol and rhodinol benefitting from the fertile alluvial soil here on the banks of the Ganga For more than four centuries this variety of rose is used to make rose attar ruh essential oil rosewater and of course gulkand Itrsquos poetic beauty has been referenced by Shakespeare Twelfth Night and Sonnet 130 Syrian poet Nizar Qabbani and the English poet Thomas RiverAs we approach the fields at Khadariyapur we roll down the windows to take in the sight of a carpet of pink as far as the eyes can see The air is rich with the smooth scent of the Chiniya and the earth Cannabis grows here in the wild and rows of mango trees are laden with flowers As the sunrsquos rays fall gently on the fragrant foliage it feels hypnoticWe stop by at Kamal Sainirsquos plantation as he goes in and out of the thorny shrubs like PACMAN coming out unscathed each time Saini has been plucking roses with his bare hands for years even though he hires manpower to work on 10 acres of rose farms He knows no other way ldquoOnly fully blossomed flowers are picked and plucked at an angle that doesnrsquot hurt It takes years of practice to be able to do thisrdquo he says nonchalantly plucking the last lot for the day circling the haphazardly planted shrubsmdashsome as tall as a onestoried buildingThe roses are tossed into a jute sack slung around his waist Tightly packing them in a bigger sack he ferries the harvest back to Kannauj on his trusted motorcycle delivering them to the homes of local women who will clean and pluck the petals ldquoThis is rural Work From Home for the women of our town empowering them in a small but important wayrdquo says Shashwatrsquos uncle Ashutosh Dubey The price of the roses is controlled by the local union and usually range anywhere between Rs 60 to Rs 70 a kilo minus the commission rate Kannauj alone accounts for the manufacture of around Rs 300 croreworth gulkandOn the outskirts of Kannauj are rose fields where flowers are plucked at sunrise and sent to locals to separate the petals from the shaft By evening they are in a workshop to be sifted on a large sieve The larger petals are pounded with sugar in a mango wood mortar and pestle ready to be crushed into gulkandNext Sashwat takes us to their karkhana where by 4 pm the cleaned and plucked petals are collected from the womenrsquos homes and brought to Here they are sifted through a large sieve ldquoOnly the larger petals are used for the gulkandrdquo Shashwatrsquos father Satyendra Dubey tells us ldquoThe smaller ones are sent for making gulab jal The petals are put in a large mango wood mortar and pestle the size of a bathtub Itrsquos an ancient technique the wood soaks in the excess moisture We mix 60 kilos of sulphurfree sugar with 40 kilos of petals crushing it all gently until thoroughly mixed At this stage the sugar is still granulated Stored in large containers of 25 kilos each the sugar melts naturally due to the Sunrsquos rays till it forms a semidry liquid This takes up to a month But the gulkand is ready to eat even on day one after being thoroughly mixed Of course waiting is recommendedrdquoWe ask why misri or rock sugar is not used since it is prescribed in Ayurveda and is considered a healthier option ldquoWhen it was prescribed hundreds of years ago sulphurfree sugar was not availablerdquo laughs Ashutosh adding ldquoTo be honest we do use misri if it is a client requirement but commercially it isnrsquot a viable option Misri is expensive and requires crushing before use which is not possible for larger orders I am not an expert but you will see the benefits of gulkand even in the sugar variant Itrsquos all in the headrdquo He tells us of a factory where workers wear disposable head caps and gloves to ensure hygiene which hikes up the price of the finished productA renowned Ayurvedic brand also sources rose petals from Kannauj but they transport them on ice slabs to their stateoftheart processing unit in Haridwar ldquoThe delay kills the benefitsrdquo says Satyendra who takes pride in his centuriesold process ldquoJust because a famous yogi is selling it people buy it Our lack of awareness and obsession with lsquowhatrsquos expensive must be goodrsquo is making us indifferent to the truthrdquoGovedic and Urban PlatterSoliloquy done we ask him if gulkand is okay for diabetics ldquoHave a spoonful first thing in the morning and donrsquot have any liquid for 30 minutes afterrdquo pat comes the reply ldquoThe sugar wonrsquot spike your insulin levels or harm you It can be refrigerated and stored in an airtight container for a yearrdquo Once consumed on special occasions when a meetha paan ended an Indian meal the gulkand is suddenly finding place on store shelves in pretty bottles marketed as a wellness eat The West has labelled it rose jam rose petal conserve and confiturederoseOnline gourmet grocery store Urban Platter sells natural Himalayan gulkand Rs 225 for 300gms Govedic offers an organic gulkand rose petals jam Rs 400 for 450gms and Amala Earth has an Ayurvedic gulkand rose petals jam Rs 599 for 400 gm However brands such as Praakritik are giving it an artisanal touch by fortifying gulkand with honey and rock sugar Rs 310 for 250 gms or with paan infused flavours Rs 350 for 250gms Amala Earth too has a natural kesarelaichi artisan variant Rs 338 for 250gm The roses for these are sourced either from Kannauj or from Pushkar in RajasthanAshutosh Dubey and Shashwat DubeyWe brought back a kilo for Rs 100 Cheap right The same is repackaged and sold in smaller jars with or without fortification but often with bigger marketing plans sometimes hiking the price up to Rs 1000 a kiloPerfect for summer gulkand can be used in sweets paan and milkshakes Experts swear by its therapeutic properties and antibacterial antioxidant antitussive antidiabetic and relaxant effects Because of its cooling properties it is a great remedy for the reduction of pitta bile and heat in the body alleviating heatrelated problems such as fatigue lethargy itching aches and pains It is also considered to be a remedy for eye inflammation and redness and for strengthening teeth and gumsGulkand goodnessgtgtthinspEnhances sleep qualitygtgtthinspActs as natural coolantgtgtthinspHelps clear the skin and reduces acne marksgtgtthinspBenefits digestive health and overall wellbeinggtgtthinspReduces stress and strengthens the heart and central nervous systemgtgtthinspHelps manage a hangoverPushkar Vs KannaujIn the alternative medicine circles the superiority of gulkand from either region is often debated The gulkand from Kannauj is light pink and sometimes referred to as lsquosyntheticrsquo due to its heady fragrance The varieties from Pushkar and Ajmer are usually darker but that is due to the colour of the petals since itrsquos made from red roses However Ashutosh Dubey argues that it does not have the same health benefits because ldquothe concentration of oil in the Kannauj variant is different from the Pushkar one The latter is cheaper and hence best used in meetha paan variants The Kannauj gulkand is used for medicinal purposes and is sometimes fortified with praval bhasma or coral calx natural source of calcium toordquo