Bablu's Phuchka Model: Global supply chain, local love story
With my fondness for Nirvana, German Expressionism, and Guinness, it may come as a surprise that I'm a vocalist for local. There's a certain kind of happiness I feel when I buy chicken, go out to have phuchka , get a haircut, or buy medicine from my neighbourhood.Of course, the chicken is probably of distant (read: non-neighbourhood) provenance. The barber uses tools, creams, and lotions made in different parts of India (the fan in his saloon is China-made). Barring the potatoes and chillies in Bablu's perfect phuchka cocktail being locally sourced (our area is urban-agricultural), the atta, tamarind and everything else are most likely from 'outside'. And my stash of Met XL50 that I get from the local med store is manufactured in Guwahati by a company headquartered in Kandivili West.So, each contribution of dosh to my immediate 'desh' - my locals for whom I harbour a disproportionate amount of material and metaphysical loyalty - is part of a larger, great chain of economic being. Of course, it would have been grand if my neighbourhood manufactured printers, made EV batteries, had bookstores that I would gladly have visited...But I'm not a postcolonial nutter who thinks manufacturing GPUs is one hop away from spinning khadi. Truth be told, my Swadeshi Lite is firmly based on availability, ease of procuring, and quality, with the hope to see my neighbourhood grow more prosperous by the day.The main difference - heck, the only difference - between Trump's call for a swadeshi andolan and Modi's shout-out to Make India Great Again is in their nuance. The former, French farmers' union style, doesn't want anything that is consumed by the American people to be produced outside America. The latter, Bapu-style, doesn't want the Indian people to consume anything that is produced outside India. It's a subtle difference, but a telling one.In both versions - 'make what you consume' vs 'consume (only) what you make' - the real intention is to see that the Country-That-Must-Not-Be-Named is denied two of its biggest markets. If all goes well, the Country-That-Must-Not-Be-Named will shrivel to the size of an economic shih tzu, while America returns to its rightful place in the comity of nations that it had in the 1950s-1960s, and India goes back to its own hallowed position from which it was displaced before the very moment Babur crossed the Chenab in 1519.Being a self-sustaining economy should not be a problem for a country that makes everything it uses. For a country that doesn't have much use for jet skis, like, say, landlocked Vatican City, not having a homegrown jet ski-manufacturing industry isn't a problem. Unless, for some sentimental reason, the new pope decides to start exporting jet skis to Peru and/or America.The problem is that the Country-That-Must-Not-Be-Named has, over the years, infiltrated their merchandise everywhere in almost everything. And we're not just talking about Ganesh idols that Kiren Rijiju may have bought online by mistake. We're talking about also infiltrating things that go into making things that make things.In all this gung-ho hungama about ' Make in India ', everyone is thinking only quantitatively. This may be understandable for a country that takes (perverse) pride in having more people than any other country - 'Kya hai tumhare paas? 'Mere paas demographic dividend hai!' But quality has a quantity of its own that goes beyond shifting units Soviet Union ball bearing-style.There's a reason why after the swadeshi movement did what it had set out to do, we didn't quite become a nation of charkha spinners. Tagore was bang on in his 1925 essay, 'The Cult of the Charkha': 'I am afraid of a blind faith on a very large scale in the charkha in the country, which is so liable to succumb to the lure of short-cuts when pointed out by a personality about whose moral earnestness they can have no doubt.'Instead, we invested in the tech descendants of the spinning jenny, despite its Lancashire 'satanic mills' origins. If we do get seriously vocal for local - and I think it's a splendid idea - we mustn't fall for any cult. Instead, invest monetarily and imaginatively in making things that will make us want to buy them.Frankly, if Bablu's phuchkas were Chinese, you think people wouldn't have lined up to gobble them? They're just 'world-class', you see.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
'Shame on those who voted for it: you ...', says angry Elon Musk on Donald Trump's Signature tax and spending bill, 'One, Big, Beautiful Bill'
, the Tesla CEO and one of President Donald Trump's most prominent political donors, launched a blistering attack on the president's recently passed tax-and-spending legislation, branding it a 'disgusting abomination' in a series of posts on Twitter on Tuesday (June 3). Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The outspoken billionaire, who recently stepped down as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in the Trump administration, expressed outrage over the bill's potential to balloon the national deficit, accusing Congress of 'making America bankrupt.' The legislation, dubbed the 'One, Big, Beautiful Bill' by Trump, was narrowly passed by the House last month and includes extensions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, alongside new spending allocations for border security and the military. However, the bill has drawn sharp criticism for its projected impact on the federal deficit, with the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and independent analysts estimating it could add between $2.3 trillion and $5 trillion to the deficit over the next decade. To offset some of the costs, Republicans have proposed cuts to Medicaid, food stamps, and green-energy tax credits. Elon Musk warns America will go bankrupt Elon Musk, who has long warned of the national debt as an 'existential threat,' had previously offered only mild critiques of the bill despite his role as an informal adviser to Trump. However, his latest comments mark a dramatic escalation in tone. 'I'm sorry, but I just can't stand it anymore. This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination,' Musk wrote on X. 'It will massively increase the already gigantic budget deficit to $2.5 trillion (!!!) and burden America[n] citizens with crushingly unsustainable debt.' He went on to criticize lawmakers who supported the bill, stating, 'Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now You know it.' Musk's comments come just days after his departure from the Trump administration, though he has vowed to continue advising the president informally. White House says Bill will stimulate US economy The White House has pushed back against the deficit projections, with officials arguing that the CBO estimates fail to account for the potential economic growth spurred by the tax cuts. They claim the bill's provisions will stimulate the economy enough to offset the increased spending. However, Musk's public rebuke highlights growing tensions within Trump's Republican Party over the legislation, which faced a rocky passage through the House due to opposition from both fiscal conservatives and moderates. The bill's passage has also drawn scrutiny from independent fiscal watchdogs. A recent CBO report warned that the tax provisions alone could increase the federal deficit by $3.8 trillion over the next decade, while proposed cuts to social programs like Medicaid and food stamps would only reduce spending by $1 trillion. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a nonpartisan group, estimated the bill could add roughly $3.3 trillion to the national debt over the same period. Musk's outspoken criticism adds a new layer of complexity to the debate as the bill awaits consideration in the Senate, where its fate remains uncertain amid ongoing partisan divides.
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
an hour ago
- Business Standard
Elon Musk slams Trump's tax bill as wasteful 'abomination' amid backlash
Donald Trump ally Elon Musk lambasted the president's signature tax bill as a budget-busting 'abomination' as Republican fiscal hawks stepped up criticism of the massive fiscal package. Musk attacked the legislation days after leaving a temporary assignment leading the administration's Department of Government Efficiency initiative to cut federal spending. 'This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination,' Musk wrote in a social media post. 'Shame on those who voted for it.' White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt brushed aside the criticism. 'The President already knows where Elon Musk stood on this bill. It doesn't change the president's opinion. This is one big, beautiful bill and he's sticking to it,' she told reporters on Tuesday. Trump attacked fiscal conservative Rand Paul earlier Tuesday as 'crazy' as the president pressed reluctant Republican senators to move forward swiftly with his massive tax and spending package. The Kentucky senator earlier said on CNBC that he wouldn't vote for the president's signature legislation because it would increase the legal US debt limit. 'I'm just not for that. That's not conservative,' said Paul, who also has argued the tax measure would add too much to the national debt. Trump quickly responded with a series of social media posts, saying the senator 'never has any practical or constructive ideas. His ideas are actually crazy (losers!)' But Senate Republican leader John Thune of South Dakota said the debt ceiling has to be raised and 'failure is not an option.' The Treasury Department estimates the US will run out of borrowing authority in August or September. Thune acknowledged it will take time to resolve conflicting demands from the Senate's 53 Republicans and assemble a package acceptable to a majority of the 100-member body. All Democrats are expected to oppose the legislation. 'We've got to get to 51, so we'll figure out the path forward to do that over the next couple of weeks,' Thune told reporters. While most outside economists have forecast the House version of the legislation would add trillions of dollars to the US debt over 10 years, the White House has claimed that the tax bill would pay for itself in part through economic growth. Trump and Republican leaders have said they have no choice but to add the debt ceiling to the tax bill in order to ensure smooth passage and avoid a payment default as soon as August. Paul posted a response to Trump, saying he favors the tax cuts but 'I also want to see the $5 trillion in new debt removed from the bill,' adding at least three other Republican senators agreed with him, enough to block the legislation. But other conservative bill holdouts stopped short of saying they would oppose any debt ceiling increase in the bill. Florida Senator Rick Scott said that he wants to balance the budget to avoid raising the debt ceiling in the future, but noted he voted for a budget outline allowing a debt ceiling increase. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin said he could support a smaller one-year debt ceiling increase in exchange for large spending cuts.
India Today
an hour ago
- India Today
China tells US to restore ties on right track and end 'negative measures'
China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi told US Ambassador to Beijing that the United States must create better conditions to bring bilateral relations back on "the right track." According to the Chinese foreign ministry, the statement came during a meeting on stated that after trade discussions held last month in Geneva, China has "conscientiously and strictly" followed the agreements made by both sides. However, he expressed concern over the US's recent actions. "It is regrettable that the US recently introduced a series of 'negative' measures, which China firmly opposes," Wang told to US Ambassador to Beijing, David pointed out that US-China ties are at a critical juncture, and stressed that the only way forward is through "dialogue and cooperation." Wang also warned that ongoing friction could harm mutual interests if not addressed properly. Perdue said in an X post after the meeting that he had emphasised US President Donald Trump's priorities on trade, fentanyl, and illegal immigration, adding that "communication is vital" to US-China InMust Watch
