Swadeshi enterprise

The air was full of swadeshi schemes — textile mills and improved handlooms, river transport concerns, match and soap factories, earthenware, potteries and tanneries: the fruits of this upsurge were being documented and hailed as a new dawn. Rabindranath Tagore remarked in the Town Hall address of August 1905: 'The country today accepts as eternal truths what only yesterday it did not even think worth listening to'

- RAJU MANSUKHANI

Rare would be an Indian home where the sandalwood-scented Cantharidine hair oil or Boroline, the all-purpose antiseptic cream, is not to be found. Generations have grown up using this 'elixir of Cantharidis' or squeezing the all-too-familiar green tube of Boroline to soothe painful dry skin. Both these 'superbrands' of modern India exemplify the spirit of Swadeshi, the passion and power of anti-colonial struggles which began well before 1905 and continues till date.

The enterprise of Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray (also referred to as 'Roy'), which gave us Cantharidine hair oil among other products, was built on the founder's belief that India's progress could only be achieved by industrialization by its people and for its own people. Acharya set up the first chemical factory in India, with minimal resources, working from his home, to establish Bengal Chemical Works in 1892; by 1901 it was converted into Bengal Chemical and Pharmaceutical Works Ltd.

On the one hand, Bengal Chemicals was challenging imperial monopolies and tariffs, at the same time, the Acharya was quality conscious and BCW products met British pharmacopoeia standards. With eminent doctors like Dr R.G. Kar, Dr N.R. Sarkar, Dr S.P. Sarbadhikari and Dr A.C. Bose working for him and patronizing Bengal Chemicals, the Acharya's commitment to modern science and science-based industries was second to none. The mission to use indigenous technology for the needs of millions of common people proved to be a success: whether it was talcum powder, toothpaste, glycerine soap, carbolic soap, fire extinguishers or surgical and hospital instruments.

Furthermore, the enterprises were generating employment for Indians at all levels.