| They were betting that Coke's prestigious Woodruff Award for the fastest growing market would be theirs for a second year running. |
| The fizz went out of Coca Cola because of a petite, feisty lady who took on the world's most powerful brand. |
| Sunita Narain, who was once Gupta's schoolmate, had already a few months earlier washed away consumers' faith in packaged water brands. |
| A report by her Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) flayed the bottled water companies for carrying harmful pesticides. |
| In July, Narain turned her guns on the two cola majors, Pepsi and Coca-Cola, accusing them of selling aerated drinks that contained higher than permissible levels of pesticides. |
| The CSE report said their drink had residues, including lindane, DDT, malathion and chlorpyrifos. These, it said, could cause cancer, damage the nervous and reproductive systems, and cause birth defects and severe disruption of the immune system. |
| The impact was immediate. In October, The Coca-Cola Company reported that India sales in the September quarter dipped 12 per cent. |
| Gone with the fizz was the 20-25 per cent growth rate being bandied about at the beginning of the year. |
| Pepsi also admitted that its India sales were down but gave no figures. Both companies have denied that their products are unsafe. |
| In the days ahead, the two companies attempted to turn the tables on Narain. |
| The government, uncertain about how to proceed, ordered an inquiry. Meanwhile, Gupta and his counterpart in Pepsi, Rajeev Bakshi, sank their usual rivalry, and joined forces to defend their products. It became a war between the cola giants vs Sunita Narain. |
| But the vote of confidence clearly went to the lady, as consumers""at least for a time""showed their scepticism by taking the colas off their shopping lists. |
| And the jury is still out on whether Coke or Pepsi contained excessive levels of pesticides. |
| A parliamentary committee has been probing the issue for months but a report is not expected before the Budget session in 2004. |
| Nevertheless, Narain has had an impact on the two companies. Bottlers of both companies say that testing of ground water samples have become more stringent and product quality checks are conducted with extreme care. |
| Consumers have also shown that they are unwilling to compromise on health issues. First, they cut back on Coke and Pepsi after the pesticide alarm. More recently, sales of Cadbury's have taken a knock after the discovery of worms in some chocolate bars. |
| Today, there is no doubt in anybody's mind that Narain's efforts have raised the bar on food product quality and consumer awareness in the country. |
| It isn't the first time that Narain and the CSE have forced the government and industry to change. Residents of Delhi have seen her do it before over compressed natural gas (CNG). |
| Today, most buses, trucks and three-wheelers run on CNG and most experts believe it has done a world of environmental good to the city. |
| The campaign succeeded in the face of concerted opposition from powerful automobile makers' and transporters' lobbies. A Supreme Court ruling backed the CSE's stand on CNG. |
| Narain is modest about her group's achievements. A few months ago she said: "We just kept asking questions and looking for answers. We used the skills of a journalist to collect source water samples from the units and applied scientific skills to find answers." |
| After the cola controversy she kept on reminding people that it was not a war with the cola giants. It was, she said, part of a wider campaign to introduce stringent quality standards for bottled drinks. Since, then the government, too, has come out with new norms for these products. |
| Critics say Narain is a publicity-seeker. That, they argue, is why she targeted two of the world's strongest brands. |
| She is unfazed by the attacks and says there is always a price to be paid for triggering a revolution. As she often says: "Only an ant can defeat an elephant." |
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