There are generally two types of products that are made for India.

  1. Built with the unique Indian needs in mind.
  2. Marketed towards Indians, as a patriotic thing.

When buying a product, always go for the point 1, never for point 2. You will be sorely disappointed when you buy a product just because it makes you feel patriotic.

Patanjali is one such brand that comes to mind. They tried to evoke feelings of videshi company vs desi company. Their products have been of subpar quality, and advertisements are found to be misleading.

They try to portray that they are built for India, but they’re just marketed well towards Indians.

Another company trying to do the same recently is EaseMyTrip. They want you to buy tickets from their platform not because they’re providing a better service, but because they’re “Indian”.

I am not saying that you should not buy from Indian companies, but don’t buy from them just because they’re Indian, buy because they provide a better product/service.

UPI, and all the apps supporting UPI, are the kind of services that make me proud as a customer. They’re built with India and its needs in mind. I prefer to use UPI over Visa and Mastercard, not because of some patriotic reason, but because it actually feels like a better experience.

Same is true for Swiggy vs UberEats. Not sure if UberEats is still available in India, but when it was, Swiggy was my go-to choice because it provided a superior service, and not because it was built in India.

Whenever you get a chance to vote with your wallet next time, don’t vote for something marketed for your patriotic emotions, but actually vote for a better solution.

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