MADE IN INDIA
The concept has conquered our nation. Everybody wants a cake from her. Suddenly everyone wants to be a part of this great manufacturing revolution.
The assumption here is that we Indians are not using Indian manufactured goods and, in true Gandhiji fashion, we need to go back to our roots. It’s yesterday once again and as Alisha sang in the 1990s “…chahiye bus made in India”. Anyway, as a good citizen that I am, I decided to accept this concept of patriotism in its entirety. Hence the project “home transformation” began.
The three basics, food, clothing, shelter, were the first to receive a makeover. The food has no room for improvement. I challenge any nation in the world to provide more delicious “tandoori chicken” than our roadside dhabas. Wheat, rice, vegetables, all home grown (figuratively speaking) and oil, well Punjabis are addicted to desi ghee. Even western dishes like noodles (can someone beat our own maggi), pastas and breads are deliciously Indian. Chocolates, ice creams, sauces, jams, dressings, condiments, cakes, cookies etc. are all happily provided by Indian businessmen. Indian products are also patronized by most of us as they are cheaper than their foreign counterparts.
Our saris, Punjabi suits and the best cotton shirts; they are cultivated, ginned, weaved and sewn in a single India. Even Levi jeans come from Indian producers. Indian hosiery and wool products are also exported to Western nations. Therefore, there is no possibility that there is any foreign influence on the attraction as well.
I decided to do a thorough audit of my kitchen equipment. Basic steel utensils are made using SAIL steel or Tata steel and nothing can be more Indian than that. There is a porcelain tableware from a reputable company from, unsurprisingly, India. The pressure cookers are once again from a prestigious firm, bought with great affection by my husband, inspired by movie actors. And look, there it is, hidden from the back shelf, an old porcelain tableware, made in London, a gift from my Mamu. I can’t take it off and throw it away because, not to beat around the bush, it’s expensive. I reflect on the subject and then it strikes me that it is old and that my maternal grandfather bought it on his visit to England in the year 1935. At that time, India was ruled by the United Kingdom and therefore there was no distinction As for India and UK. Logically that is also Indian. Now I can retain this with a clear conscience.
Modes of travel from the poor man’s cycle to the space shuttle to Mars, it’s all Indian. Except when it comes to luxury vehicles, the situation becomes dire. Considering the percentage of Indian population that owns BMW or Mercedes; this is not a cause for concern.
Our humble abode, made of bricks and concrete, produced and purchased in India, does not have state-of-the-art objects, leaving us without any guilt. The electronics that dot the house have foreign-sounding names, but research showed that these too, surprisingly, were made in India; except one. There is always a catch.
This word processing machine, which calls itself a computer, was not made in India and there are no prizes for guessing the country of origin. If I dismiss this, how will I keep the nation up to date on such original thoughts made in India?