PARLE-- G

 

 ”Aree O Kaliya. Gaon se mere liye kya laya re”

Roaring as he strode on the huge Ramgarh boulders, the metallic bullet laden leather belt clanking against the hard black rocks, his dialogues spewed hatred and created a scene of terror as the three dacoits stood head bent in line and reverence as naughty students would stand in front of an angry school principal.

This was a villain at his evilest.

This was non-other than Daku Gabbar Singh in a biscuit ad.

Replying ’Biscuit laya Sardar’, Kaliya handed palmful of the rectangle brown biscuits to him.

Taking one mouthful he spits it out claiming them to be rubbish.

He flings biscuits up in the air and shoots three which splinter and blown to smithereens, disintegrate in mid-air.

The fourth and fifth revolver shots click and this sound reverberates. They are empty as in Russian roulette there were no bullets in these chambers.

The biscuit flips back to the ground.

”Bach gaya Sala”

He now fires between the three dacoits legs and shouts at them to go back to the village and get back ’Asli Cheez’

They scamper, mount their horses and speed off.

The next shot pans at the same locale as they come back with a bag full of Britania Glucose-D biscuits packets.

A grin spreads on his face as he delves into a handful of these golden goodies.

’Ab Ayenga Maza’

He bites into the pile of biscuits exclaiming ’Britania Glucose -D. Gaon ka har baccha jaanta hai ki Gabbar ki Asli Pasand kya hai.

I am sure all of you will be ’Errrrrm --- this is Britania Glucose-D. What is its connection to Parle- G?’

Well there is a  big connection as this biscuit (along with many more with suffixes Glucose) came flooding to take a piece of the pie (ie the flourishing Indian biscuit business) in the absence of Parle Gluco Biscuits.

Parle’s absence and lack of copyright to the word Glucose allowed other biscuits to milk this cow.  Taking advantage of this and the goodwill created by the word Glucose, affixed to a biscuit name, they fleeced it. 

While these companies and brands fought with each other for market share, Parle Glucos to be ahead of its game, reemerged metamorphosed to a new Avatar 

’Parle Gluco’ was reborn a Genius as --  ’Parle-G’

This was in contrast to the way this company got its initial name Parle Gluco.

Lack of imagination led the company to be named after its location -- Parle

To get an understanding I need to narrate this story.

                          -----///-----

The inception of Parle Products was by Mohanlal Dayal Chauhan.

It all started pre Independence in 1929.

The candy business at this time was dominated by the imported English products sold exclusively to the English ruling class.

Bring expensive it was unaffordable to the masses.

Mohanlal Dayal a ’Swedeshi’ silk merchant wanted to produce locally made candy at an affordable selling price.

He wanted the poor people also to indulge in this delight.

He went to Germany to study the art of candy making and returned to India with a machine that he had purchased for Rs. 60,000.

An old factory in Vile Parle was zeroed down as a choice of site.

Comprising of 12 workers (his family members) they worked very hard to start production in this factory.

The new company was formed and Parle Gluco was now up and running.

Using this brand name they started producing and selling wrapper covered orange candy.

It was a hit and was in demand.

Due to its popularity and affordability it grew to become a brand that the foreign companies had to reckon with.

 Parle-G now diversified to other flavoured candies.

At this stage biscuits that were had at tea time were also dominated by the foreign companies and their products were out of reach of the poor.

Wanting to break this dominance in 1939 ten years after he had started his Parle-G’, Mohanlal ventured to produce affordable biscuits at the same factory.

This was a cheaply sold high-quality tasty wheat-based biscuit. People loved it.

Apart from its Indian fan following it started getting liked by the English as well. 

Slowly, as the company grew in leaps and bounds in popularity, the foreign brands were overtaken.

By the end of the second World War, it had become a top company.

However, post-world war and Indian Independence there was a hiccup due to a big dip in wheat harvests and its availability for biscuit production.

The company took a break from baking and selling Parle Gluco biscuits.

The absence of this favourite biscuit was felt and public demand started building up to start production.

The wheat situation was still dire and it was not yet feasible to start.

The company vowed to come back as soon as it could.

In its absence, smaller companies started filling in the shortfall. None could recreate the Parle Gluco taste.

In 1982 they came back into the game.

It was now clear that though Britannia Glucose was Gabbar’s Asli Pasand the nations Asli Pasand is --

Parle-G

                     -------///------

Today there is no more Parle in Vile Parle

The 87-year-old factory finally shut down in 2016.

All that I can say for this Parle G unit is what Gabbar said in the movie SHOLAY  -----

’YAAD RAKHUNGA...... TUJHE YAAD RAKHUNGA’