Thursday, February 10, 2011

Where have all the good things gone?

NAGPUR IS famous for its juicy, sweet oranges. Well most of us have just heard about that. Maharashtrian Alphonsoes are of the best variety, and are the tastiest mangoes on planet earth. However, for most of Indians, what they pick from the market might not be of the greatest quality because the best ones are exported!

Recently, someone I know went to Nagpur and on their way back they tried finding the ‘Nagpur Orange’ but they could not. The oranges they bought neither had the colour, nor fragrance and juice. A kanjeevaram silk saree that is exported, I bet you cannot find that jaw-dropping quality silk in India, textile exhibitions being an exception!

It is interesting and somewhat saddening that the best quality things are exported in advance and Indian consumers are compelled to buy just ordinary quality products. Even when the produce is native, not all of the native people can afford to have the export quality produce in their hands. Nagpur orange and Alphonso mangoes remains a dream for most of the people. And even for the people who are willing to spend on these things, lack of supply comes in between and makes the fruit taste bitter.

Indian buyers in some way or the other compromise with the quality. If you visit any country that imports different products from India, you shouldn’t be amazed to find garments of immensely fine quality manufactured in India. The quality and the texture of those garments will definitely astound you because they will surely be of the best quality because we will leave no stone unturned to maintain the quality standards of our export materials on international grounds.

It is indeed funny that we people love wearing and flaunting international brands who deliver quality to us. It doesn’t takes much time for an international brand to establish itself due to its unmatched quality. Once that happens, these brands jump into the Indian markets. Because of shortage of  quality local products, foreign brands are able to set up their manufacturing units in our country itself. Indian raw materials, Indian labour and Indian land is used to earn profits from Indians only. This also cuts their costs to more than half. We are eating chocolates like Cadbury bournville which is an Indian chocolate made from an ‘imported’ English recipe, wearing brands like Levis Strauss signature that is manufactured in India only.

Every state in India has its speciality of products but due to the export phenomenon we seem to be left with only the so called ‘ world-class’ and ‘world quality’ produce. The trick is to keep the consumers unaware and inject in their minds, that what they have in their hands is of ‘the best’ and ‘superior quality’.

There should not be any compromise with this for sure. But ironically, what an average Indian buyer gets is not even half as good as that of the exported produce. It is a bitter truth that has always remained and might always prevail as we people are happy with what is being fed to us. Lack of awareness being the greatest reason for this.

Related News on >> Business News in India , Business News India

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