Watch Video: Haldiram trends after journalist heckles store manager over 'Urdu' text on snack package

A Haldiram’s outlet store in Delhi-NCR found itself smack dab in the middle of an unsavoury controversy on Tuesday, over an ‘Urdu’ description of the list of ingredients on the back of its ‘Falhari Mixture’ package, which is essentially a mildly spiced, sweet and salty mixture of peanuts and crispy potato strips.

Currently, devout and observant Hindus are fasting during ‘Chaitra Navratri’; however, the austerities permit the consumption of mass-produced ‘fast’ foods, it would seem.

But what seemed to particularly get to the reporter of the Hindi television news channel Sudarshan was the ‘Urdu’ wording on the back of the snack pack, which she thought the public needed to be enlightened about. So, she walked into the NCR store and, brandishing a packet of the said ‘Falhari Mixture’, proceeded to question the store manager about this at length. A video of their exchange went viral on Twitter after the news channel aired the clip.

The clip shows the female reporter asking the female manager, woman, what ‘lie’ the desi snack giant was serving up or trying to ‘conceal’ from the public in ‘Urdu’ on the back. The no-nonsense manager is clear that there is no issue at all, the food is not a health hazard and the reporter is throwing a tantrum which she is not ready to entertain. The reporter counters this by waving the packet and saying it is okay for the company to ‘throw a tantrum’ (the package description). The manager says the reporter can take it or leave it and as the package is set down; a police officer can be seen picking it up and trying to decipher what is written on it, while a curious throng of onlookers is seen in the background.

The episode led to a ‘Krack Jack’ outpouring of tweets and here’s a generous sampling and a crucial bit of information. The language on the package was not Urdu, but Arabic, as the package was intended for sale in the Gulf market. It is standard practice for companies that market products overseas to have ingredient lists in English, French, Spanish and so on, as required.

Alishan Jafri@alishan_jafri: Amazing restraint by the Haldiram staff. BTW, Sudarshan’s ‘sherni’ should know that it’s Arabic and not Urdu. Haldiram exports to mul(t)iple Muslim majority countries who buy Indian products without discrimination.

Rana Safvi@iamrana: Urdu is an Indian language. Period

Sam@Sammmyko: Why can’t these idiots use Google translate instead of torturing the poor sales women?

Jerry@jeeryindian: That girl reporting foolishly must also learn how to use G-lens. I translated it and i found that, *Made in India* was written on Haldiram packet in Arabic. It is rather proud moment, that in other countries & languages our products are being sold. #Haldirams #Halal

Amitabh Joshi@joshiamitabhevo: She should have asked the reporter to look at an Indian currency note - see that it has Urdu on it, and then stop using currency thereafter.

Stuti@StutiNMishra: What is this police officer doing in the background? Just listening to the conversation?

Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi tweeted: Is this okay Hon. I&B Minister @ianuragthakurji? Should the channel start harassing employees for their TRP and create more hate? Shouldn’t action be taken?

Another Twitter user wrote, “Haldiram using URDU print on its packet of Falhari Mixture – are they serving Halal Food to “H”?”

Yet another declared, “This is Bikaji bhujia…In place of Hindi…Urdu language is written…. How much % of Indians know Urdu….. Hindi is our national language…. They, why Urdu is written”

Published on: Wednesday, April 06, 2022, 11:35 PM IST