The cola issue...

Inspite of the claim put forth by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) in August 2003 that colas contained unacceptably high levels of pesticides, these cola companies have continued to sell soft drinks in India, and they have been running on large scale profits. It just reflects how the people of India react to the issues pertaining to their health. Is it because of the lack of awareness? I rather feel it is just because that the people in India are imperceptive. We don't perceive things unless there is a hullabaloo in the society.

“After all, when one tries to change the institutions without having changed the nature of men, that unchanged nature will soon resurrect those institutions.”

~Will Durant ( an historian)

The common perception is that the contamination is at the ground water level, and the colas are contaminated, albeit very minutely, due to the water content. However, this is far from the truth. Both Pepsi and Coke’s bottled water products, Aquafina and Kinley have not been found to contain pesticide. The pesticide content is due to the sugar, which is contaminated, like virtually every other agricultural product.

The other side of the story…

In 1998, Coca-Cola set up a bottling plant in Perumatti in the southern state of Kerala. Since it opened, local villagers have complained about the fall in the amount of water available to them, as this company uses up to a million litres of water per day at the plant. Coca-Cola claims that the shortage in the water is due to the lack of rains in the region. Local farmers are claiming that their livelihood has been destroyed since the building of the plant and that the number of people working on the land has dropped considerably because they cannot survive. Also the waste sludge that this company produces has been disposing of on the lands of local farmers, claiming that it was a useful fertilizer. But the recent tests conducted by the local state laboratories confirmed that these should not be used as a fertilizer. Instead of a fertilizer these products have shown better results when they were used as pesticides. The farmers of AndhraPradesh and Uttaranchal have been quite successful in using these soft drinks as pesticides, who claim that these soft drinks are much cheaper as compared to pesticides that they use.

“The time has come to recognize development itself as the malignant myth whose pursuit threatens those among whom I live.”

~ Ivan Illich (an Historian)

Coca-cola has become one of the most popular drinks in India. It's business in India leads to a wide range of direct and indirect employment related to the business as result of $1 billion worth of investment by the company. It also claims to employ about 5000 people including the thousands that are related to this in some way or the other. There is a height of ambiguity regarding the unemployment that is generated by banning these companies. A Coke plant produces 250,000 liters of soda per day and employs 500 workers; meanwhile an individual producing and selling traditional drinks can make 100 liters per day, and so it takes 2,500 workers to match Coke’s 250,000 liters per day. According to this analysis, in order to employ 500 people, Coke has displaced 2,000 people. Also coke increases unemployment by taking jobs away from individuals selling lassi, nimbu pani, etc. A similar argument can be put forth regarding the malls. The growth of malls might generate employment, but it displaces all the local kirana shops present in its vicinity. This is not an effective development, in a country where more than 1 crore (1%) of the population derive its livelihood from these kirana stores. Moreover, these malls are highly automatized, which consume high amounts of electricity, which is absolutely harmful in a country which is struggling to find a solution to increase its power production.

“The aim of Industrialization should not be to create a huge engine of production, but to give to men, not only to some but to all, each in his highest possible measure, -the joy of work according to to their own nature and free leisure to grow inwardly, as well as a simple, rich and beautiful life for all.”

~ Shri Aurobindo

We follow heroes who are brainless, who cannot even call a spade a spade. I equally blame the bollywood actors and all the sportsmen who endorse upon advertising these products, eventually fooling the common man. I even doubt whether they have had even a little taste of these soft drinks. Ofcourse, these are going to be the next generation of politicians of our nation.

"True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but to urge to serve all others at whatever cost"
~ Arthur Ashe