People who worried that the famous ‘Mysore Pak’ is on the brim of losing its identity after Kannada media mistook a sarcastic tweet, made on it by scientist Dr Anand Ranganathan on September 15, to be a serious one, can now relax, as the inventors of the sweet have decided to seek a GI Tag for the same.
According to a report by Times of India, the descendants of Kakasura Madappa, who is believed to have invented Mysore Pak during the reign of Maharaja Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar, has now decided to apply for the Geographical Indication (GI) tag.
“Kakasura Madappa came up with it while making another sweet. When Maharaja asked about its name, he fumbled. Later, the Maharaja named it Mysore Pak,” revealed Kakasura’s grandson Kumar, who now runs a sweet shop by the name Guru Sweets which is famous for its Mysuru Pak.
Kumar further added, “Last year when D Randeep was the deputy commissioner, we submitted records related to Mysore Pak. Its history has been recorded. We have decided to move the Intellectual Property Office in Chennai seeking GI recognition”.
Meanwhile, Shivanand Madappa, the great-grandson of Kakasura also confirmed the same, “Yes, We have now decided to file for GI tag. We will consult with all the elders in the house and then approach the intellectual property office to seek a real GI tag.”
The GI tag is issued by the Geographical Indications Registry for a product that corresponds to a specific geographic location or origin, for instance, Darjeeling Tea. The right enables the tag holders to prevent third-party usage.
The family’s response came after the sarcasm in the tweet made by Dr Anand Ranganathan on the issue of ‘Mysore Pak’ was missed by few in Kannada media which in turn blew it out of proportion and started outraging over it. In a joke, he had tweeted that finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had granted the Mysore Pak GI tag to Tamil Nadu.
The Tweet was misused by local media in Karnataka to spread fake news. They tried to make people believe that the two states, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, are fighting over the sweet dish which is believed to have been developed in Mysore. It also accused Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman of ‘giving’ the GI tag of Mysore Pak to Tamil Nadu.
Taking the controversy to another level, an anchor of Suvarna news, Jayaprakash Shetty even asked for the arrest of scientist Ranganathan for claiming Mysore Pak belonged to Tamil Nadu. The anchor was so enraged that he did not miss out on dragging the Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman into the entire fiasco. In an angry tone, he said that Anand Ranganathan was the one who gave the idea to Nirmala Sitharaman to declare GI tag for Mysore Pak in favour of Tamil Nadu.
Further, calling his tweets ‘seditious’, the anchor questioned why can not he joke about Dr Ranganathan having connections with Pakistan.
In an unnecessary attack against Ranganathan, Shetty further misled the viewers by referring to a tweet made by Anand Ranganathan where he had promptly requested the people of Karnataka to end the issue. The anchor stated that it was because of the pressure exerted by the media, Dr Ranganathan sought to apologise for his gaffe.
However, calling the entire row over ‘Mysuru Pak’ unnecessary, the family said it “felt it’s time they got recognition for spreading sweetness in the world.”
“My great-grandfather, who invented the Mysore Pak, decided to set up a small sweet shop along the Dasara Jumbo Savari route 60 years ago. We are located in the main market area. This popularised the sweet all the more,” said Nataraj, another great-grandson of Kakasura Madappa.
