Made in India

Take a closer look at things that we usually buy and chances are that it will be a "Made in China" tag.
Not surprising since everyone know that in a populous country, production costs can be kept very competitive.

Right here in Hyderabad, most things that we see are "Made in India". Refreshing change, I thought. I mean after all the news about China using inferior or unacceptable materials for toys or even milk, how worse can it get right?

When shopping here, most of the tags shows that the clothes are manufactured here. When a country is big, I can see how important it is to support your own domestic market. It creates jobs and when things are produced here, of course it is cheaper as compared to goods that have travelled on a plane/ ship.

I have not mentioned it before but if you shop here, you will see quite a few major brand's boutique. Nike, Adidas, Lacoste, Esprit, Mango, Aldo, Pepe Jeans, Tommy Hilfiger, etc. I was thrilled! There is actually shopping to be done!

Well, true and not true. I can go shopping for an entire day and not buy anything. Some of the things are cheaper than back in Singapore but the quality and design is totally different. Nike shoes were heavier and most designs totally not cool. Casual bags were of cheap material and even though I really need a bag (mine is peeling after arriving here), I could not bring myself to buy one.

Brands like Mango and Aldo has got a good mix of local and important products but the imported ones are so expensive! I reluctantly stepped into Charles and Keith to look at the bags after much persuasion from the hubby (I mean, to buy Charles and Keith outside Singapore?!?!) and found that the bags are more than SGD100!

Closer on the home front, my kettle just malfunctioned on me today. The hubby had mentioned that his morning drink tasted different and I told him that we had changed from choc Horlicks to the Cadbury brand. Since it is not nice, let's not buy it again.

Later in the morning, as I was having my breakfast, I did my morning routine of drinking warm water first and nearly choked. The water had the taste of something burnt. I smelt it and confirmed the same. I went to the electric kettle and that same burnt plastic smell was overwhelming. So, it wasn't the Cadbury.


Hubby had gone to buy a new one in the afternoon and we agreed no "Made in India" kettles. The price difference was great but what to do? When I bought my pots and pans, I had insisted on getting imported ones just in case if the coating of the pans was not of accepted standards. After searching high and low, we finally found Teflon (Made in France) and bought it.

We bought honey on one of our supermarket trips for me to make honey drink or to cook with but never got the chance to use it. A few days after as I was reading the papers, it was reported that most honey made in India had a higher level of antibiotics than normal and was not allowed for import into certain countries. They did not mention anything at all about what should local consumers do (how about a product recall and get a refund?) but I reckon that the same product in the domestic market is usually the same quality or worse.

Let me show you what happened to one of my plates one fine day after microwaving food on it.

Best! I first saw sauce leaking and I thought that the clingwrap was lousy. But when I started to take the plate, I was shocked to see that the veg remained in the microwave and I had a ring plate in my hands! But well, I honestly am not that surprised and thought it was quite funny even. And yes, these plates are sold as microwave safe.

I am sure that this will not be the end of my "Made In India" story. Ask me the next time you see me and see what else.