Growing up in the family of traditional doctors, Abdul Majeeb has heard several such stories, including one of some ingenious promotional strategies for the drink.

Remember that weight loss doesn’t depend on one specific food or drink but on your overall diet and level of physical activity. Final words A charitable trust was established in 1948 and "till date, 85% of our profits go to charity," Ahmed says. That's also true for Hamdard Pakistan. For some who had it only as a rare sweet treat, Rooh Afza was the stuff of dreams. As a child in Kurnool in southeast India, writer Archana Pidathala was allowed Rooh Afza only at birthday parties. When she moved to Bangalore (now known as Bengaluru) as an adult, she was free to indulge, drinking Rooh Afza with basil seeds at juice shops or faluda ribboned with the syrup at a dhaba, a roadside eatery. Faluda – a popular cold dessert made with ice cream (kulfi) and vermicelli, often topped with a drizzle of Rooh Afza at a famous dessert shop on Burns Road, Karachi’s oldest food street [Khaula Jamil/Al Jazeera] For the last four days, I went to at least 20 shops in our locality, but had to return empty-handed. Due to the unavailability, we were having lemon water during iftar,” she said. Shabana Khan, right, makes Rooh Afza in big cauldrons to serve to her family at iftar. Taniya Dutta / The NationalAcidity regulator: This is used to maintain the pH level of the drink. Rooh Afza uses citric acid as an acidity regulator. Rooh Afza was created by Hakim Hafiz Abdul Majeed, a traditional healing practitioner in the congested quarters of Old Delhi in 1907. The syrup was meant to be a cure for heat stroke, dehydration and diarrhoea. By 2017, Hamdard found itself in danger of falling behind the times as it was now dealing with a new generation of consumers that did not have the nostalgic connection with a brand like Rooh Afza. “If we wanted to survive, we had to come up with new things,” Rashid says.

Thirteen years later, Hakim Said served as governor of Sindh for a year, speaking out against corruption. In 1998, he was shot by members of a rival political party. He was 78.It has a long and fascinating history. Why you might wonder? Well, the reason is this beverage was created before India got its freedom. It has been around since 1907, making it more than 113 years old. Hakeem Abdul Majeed came up with the name "Rooh Afza" for a drink he created at a Dawa khana (in Old Delhi). The recipe was refined over time, and the final liquid that emerged was the iconic Rooh Afza. It was prepared by making a perfect mix of fruits, vegetables, herbs, and roots, all infused with a sugar syrup. It was an instant hit in Delhi, not because of its medicinal properties, but initially because of its taste. As word of mouth spread, the fragrance of Rooh Afza permeated way beyond Delhi and sales started increasing rapidly. Therefore, he started working on a medicine that would help the common people during the summer days and also be a healthy refreshing drink," Manik explained.

Rooh Afza has crucial minerals such as sodium, calcium, magnesium, potassium, sulphur, and phosphorous, which makes it effective to deal with dehydration, warmth tiredness and increased sweating. Because of this, the chilling drink is ideal for maintaining water balance in the body. 2) Improves EnergyIn Persian language, ‘rooh’ means ‘soul’ and ‘afza’ means that ‘which nourishes the soul’ or ‘uplifts/enhances your spirit.’ So, the term Rooh Afza literally translates to the one that nourishes the soul and enhances the spirit, and it really does justice to its name.