From Mysore Pak to Mysore Shree: A psychological lens on National Sentiment and Subtle Protest

Few weeks back, social media was flooded with memes related to the change in the name of the sweets from Mysore Pak to Mysore shree, Moti Pak to Moti Shree and so on. Many sweet shops changed the name of the sweets that carry the word Pak into Shree and they call it as a sign of Patriotism. Is it really patriotism? Or some other psychology plays a role out there. Does changing or ignoring the term make any sense? Some appreciated the change in the name whereas some blamed this act and stood against this. Let’s explore the psychological principles that rule this behavior.

Excitation Transfer Theory

This incident took place after Operation Sindoor, a fightback by our military forces for the Pahalgam attack. After this the two countries ended up compromising with each other inorder to avoid death and casualties. But most people of our nation felt disappointed by the act of compromise and they wanted some justice for those who lost their lives in Pahalgam. It seems unusual right? Usually common people will never expect war, death and pain. But why this time, they want to take revenge. Psychologists explained the reason behind this with a theory called Excitation transfer theory. From the Pulwama attack, 26/11 attack and the border issues we Indians took peace over war and we remained silent. And this time for the Pahalgam attack we showed our strength back. This is where the excitation transfer theory comes into play. 

According to this theory the residual arousal (leftover emotion) for one stimulus (i.e. Pulwama attack, border issues) may intensify the emotional stimulus to the subsequent stimulus (i.e. Pahalgam attack). This may lead to misattribution (People blaming the Kashmiri Muslims without analyzing the details) and emotional intensification (expecting our soldiers to fight back). And that’s why the emotional reaction of the public exceeds the general logical proportions.

So as a result of expressing support, teens from North India gave voluntary involvement to help our soldiers.     

Passive Aggression

As the general public many of those who used to follow the India-Pakistan issues will feel this exciting transfer and we just have the urge to express our aggression. But we have no way to express the aggression we feel. We cannot go and fight directly with them or do any act to express our aggression. And hence, we choose passive aggressive ways like changing the name of Mysore Pak to Mysore Shree. Passive aggression is the act of expressing aggression in an indirect way instead of hurting them physically.

Conclusion

The renaming of sweets from Pak to Shree may appear trivial on surface, but beneath it is a complex interplay of emotional, psychological and nationalistic responses. Though it is not encourageable understanding the root cause may give a clear picture on the cause.    

Written By :

Kavikkuil G J, PhD scholar in Psychology), 

University of Madras