Mysuru: How could anyone even imagine thinking of snatching Mysuru's inalienable right to the Mysuru Pak, that delicious sweet which melts in the mouth and has over the years, made the Heritage City a household name in remote corners of the globe?
A journalist, Anand Ranganathan, did try to do the unimaginable when he met Nirmala Sitharaman and handed over a pack of Mysore Pak to the Union Finance Minister who hails from Tamil Nadu. What followed later was shocking to say the least: he tweeted on Monday saying it was a token of appreciation for granting the GI tag for Mysore Pak to Tamil Nadu!
Soon there were howls of protest from all around with TV channels targeting Ms Sitharaman alleging that she had conspired to award the GI tag to Tamil Nadu despite being elected to the Rajya Sabha from Karnataka. But later Mr Anand himself clarified that his original tweet was a prank. The incident however did help unravel interesting facts about Mysore Pak. Nataraj, great grandson of Kaakasura Madappa, the royal cook who is said to have invented the sweet, reacted saying, "such a tweet is an unwarranted provocation and there should be a limit to any joke.". His family has plans to claim the GI tag and patent of Mysore Pak soon, he disclosed.
And how was the original Mysore Pak born? "My great grandfather Kakasura Madappa, a cook at the Mysuru Palace prepared a special dish on the orders of then Maharaja Sri Mummadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar. The mesmerising taste made the Maharaja name it Mysore Pak," said Nataraj.
"It was my great grandfather himself who introduced Mysore Pak to the people at large by starting a sweet mart on Ashoka Road which was on the Dasara Jumbo Savari procession route then. The shop was shifted to Sayyaji Rao Road more than 60 years ago. Madappa's son Basavanna continued selling Mysore Pak, a tradition continued by his two daughters Mahadevamma and Chinnamma and sons-in-law, Sangaraju and Puttananjappa. Now the three children of Sangaraju-me and my brothers- are continuing the tradition. The fifth generation of the family, our kids, are also keen on learning the art of Mysore Pak making," Nataraj said.
Guru Sweets on Sayyaji Rao Road has had its share of renowned customers including actors like Dr Rajkumar, Rajnikanth and Sivaji Ganesan not to mention former Tamil Nadu CM late Jayalalithaa. They used to get parcels of the sweet whenever they were in Mysuru for shooting. "Each day our shop gets over 1,000 customers and 40 percent of them are from other parts of the state, country and even abroad including tourists," explains Nataraj beaming with pride. Meanwhile, reacting to the unseemly controversy, Mysuru-Kodagu BJP MP Pratap Simha said Mysore Pak is the signature dish of the Heritage City which has evidence to prove its origin and history. It is unnecessary to give prominence to such tweets, he added.
