10 shuddh desi products we grew up with

In the run-up to Independence Day, Rediff.com looks at some products that have stood the test of time and continue to tug at Indian hearts.

Amul butter

Utterly Butterly Delicious Amul remains India's leading butter brand. The Amul Butter campaign featuring the polka dotted little girl is one of the longest running advertisement campaigns in the world.

Amul, with the tagline 'Taste of India' is based in Anand, Gujarat.

Shyam Benegal's film Manthan was based on the Amul milk revolution.

India is the largest milk producing nation in the world.

Earlier in the series: Books that best capture India

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Rooh Afza

For a generation of Indians, Rooh Afza was and continues to be a favourite summer drink.

Neither is any Ramzan or Eid ever complete without it.

Started by Hakim Abdul Majeed in 1907, it is one of the Hamdard company's flagship products.

The colas came, so did other smartly-clad tetrapack drinks, but the deep red syrup remains a formidable thirst buster.

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The Godrej refrigerator

One of India's oldest refrigerator brands, the Godrej 'fridge' has held its place in the dining rooms/kitchens of thousands of Indian homes.

Godrej manufactured its first refrigerator in 1958 and continues to be one of India's leading refrigerator brands.

The company made its first almirah in 1923 -- another constant across Indian families for generations, along with the Godrej locks.

In the Taxila Museum in Pakistan, an old Godrej iron chest is still used to store artifacts.

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Mysore Sandal Soap

Launched by the Maharaja of Mysore in 1916, the sandalwood-infused bar of soap has seen many luxuriating in its lather.

Mysore was then one the largest producers of sandalwood, but now Karnataka imports sandalwood oil.

Two years ago, Mysore Sandal Soap announced a super premium soap which is said to be one of the costliest soaps in India because of the content of pure sandalwood oil.

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Parle-G biscuits

For the longest time, Mumbaikars could smell the warm smell of biscuits being baked while approaching the biscuit factory under the flyover in Vile Parle.

Named after the Mumbai suburb, Parle-G has been around much before India gained Independence. G stands for Glucose.

It was first called Parle Gluco. According to AC Nielsen, Parle is the biggest biscuit manufacturer in the world.

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Parachute Coconut Hair Oil

There was a time Parachute hair oil tins were left in the winter sun so that the oil, which would coagulate in the cold, could slowly melt away.

Times have changed and the packaging has become svelte, but generations of Indian scalps have been kept well oiled by Parachute Coconut Oil.

One of Marico Industries's premier products, Deepika Padukone and Anushka Shankar have featured in ads for the hair oil.

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Dabur Chyawanprash

Named after the saint Chyawan, Dabur's Chyawanprash is sold as the elixir of life and continues to hold a steady place on the dining tables at many Indian homes.

A spoonful of the jam-like paste made of amla and other ayurvedic herbs is said to boost immunity.

The company says it pioneered the concept of branded chyawanprash in the 1950s.

Madhuri Dixit is the brand ambassador for the product. It has also been endorsed by Amitabh Bachchan.

Dabur was founded in 1884 in Kolkata.

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Boroline

The green tube packed in a slim green cardboard box has remained unchanged -- and Boroline remains one of the oldest antiseptic, all purpose creams.

Started in 1929, Boroline was the Swadeshi answer to British colonialism by a Bengali merchant in Calcutta.

With two factories in West Bengal and UP, Boroline has been trusted by scores of Indians for cuts, bites, wounds and beauty care for over 50 years.

The late filmmaker Ritupurno Ghosh had written the Boroline jingle in his early days as a copywriter.

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The State Bank of India

If not you, then someone in the family or extended family will surely have an account in the State Bank of India.

SBI has been the banker to rural and urban India for decades. Constituted by an act of Parliament, the genesis of the bank goes back to British India in Calcutta.

In 2013, Arundhati Bhattacharya became SBI's first woman chairperson.

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Tata Salt

With the catchy punchline 'Desh ka namak', Tata Salt was launched in 1983 as the country's first branded iodised salt.

Its current brand ambassador is not a movie star but five-time world boxing champion and Olympic winner, MC Mary Kom. A film on the talented boxer will open next month featuring Priyanka Chopra as Mary Kom.

The Tata Salt factory is located in Mithapur, Gujarat. Mahatma Gandhi had defied the British Salt Tax at Dandi, also in Gujarat.

Earlier in the series: Books that best capture India