India fashion shop brings the Hitler label to the world
TO Ahmedabad, Gujarat, where fashion store owner Rajesh Shah fronts his store named after Adolf Hitler.
Mr. Shah named the shop after his business partner’s grandfather, who earned the nicknamed Hitler, on account of his shared love of tickling, chewing gum and, rumour has it, genocide, torture, rape and raspberry Snow Cones.
Mr. Shah has heard whispers of discontent:
“None of the other people are complaining, only a few Jewish families. I have not hurt any sentiments of the majority Hindu community. If he did something in Germany, is that our concern?”
In any case, Hitler was a “good, catchy”. Mr Shah adds:
“We have not written anything below the sign or on our cards to indicate what we sell to generate mystery. The customers who come in tell me they came in seeing the name.”
We polled the local to see what they thought Hitler sold. They replied:
False testicles – 33%
Salt beef and latkes – 21%
Double glazing – 20%
France – 18%
Comfi-Slax trousers 5%
LPs – 2%
Pets – 1%
One man wondered if Baljit Singh Osan has franchised his Hitler’s Den pool hall from its base in Nagpur, Maharashtra. As Mr. Osan put it:
“If I name my son ‘Hitler’ and I wanted to start a business in his name, would they have a problem with that?”
The Times of India has more news:
Gandhi is not so great, but Hitler is. Welcome to high school education in Narendra Modi’s Gujarat where authors of social studies textbooks published by the Gujarat State Board of School Textbooks have found faults with the freedom movement and glorified Fascism and Nazism….
The Class X book presents a frighteningly uncritical picture of Fascism and Nazism. The strong national pride that both these phenomena generated, the efficiency in the bureaucracy and the administration and other ‘achievements’ are detailed, but pogroms against Jews and atrocities against trade unionists, migrant labourers, and any section of people who did not fit into Mussolini or Hitler’s definition of rightful citizen don’t find any mention.”
Will the Hitler label catch on? Can short leather striped pyjamas ever fail?
Posted: 30th, August 2012 | In: The Consumer Comments (3) | TrackBack | Permalink
