Yoga guru, Baba Ramdev, known for endorsing everything ¡°swadeshi¡± or indigenous, often despising the westernization?of Indian culture has launched one of a kind ¡®sanskaari ripped jeans¡¯.
The jeans which is ripped just enough to be ¡®sanskaari¡¯ is neither a millimeter less nor a millimeter more ripped so as to keep the Indianness of men and women intact! Baba Ramdev who rose to popularity for giving ayurvedic or herbal solutions to a plethora of human body problems had struck a chord with the audience.
Easily available aloe-vera gel for skin allergies, amla juice for flushing out toxins, giloy vati for building up blood cells were just the beginning for soon-to-become a large commercial brand called ¡®Patanjali¡¯.
While the idea of developing hand-woven jeans into a commercial brand had already raised many questions, a ¡°sanskari ripped jeans¡± would soon hit the heart of Delhi was surprising. The clothing line of Patanjali is called ¡®Patanjali Paridhan products¡¯ and is in no way indigenous in its prices. A pair of a jeans and two t-shirts cost a whopping amount of Rs 7,000 but were being sold at ? ¡°nominal price¡± of Rs 1,100 during the festive season, Baba Ramdev tweeted.
¡°People are wearing torn jeans these days. So some of our jeans are ripped, but we haven¡¯t ripped them so much also so as to lose our Indian-ness and our values,¡± Ramdev was quoted as saying at the launch on the auspicious occasion of Dhanteras, The Print reported.
Soon, the internet was filled with twitter reactions where people said that Patanjali had even ousted Tommy Hilfiger jeans when it came to exorbitant prices. Some even posted an old video of the Baba where he could be seen making fun of the western product saying, ¡°Yahan itni garmi hoti hai, jeans pehen ne ki zaroorat kya hai. Vo bhi yeh let kar pehen ni padhti hai kyunki itni tight hoti hai.¡± (It is so hot here why do people need to wear jeans? And you have to lie down in order to wear it because it is so tight)
Many questioned what does the brand name by ¡®sanskaari jeans¡¯? They concluded that Patanjali too had ventured into business and this was just a strategy to trick the Indian citizens.
The 4,000 sq. ft lush showroom in capital¡¯s Netaji Subhash Place is offering everything from saffron-colored ¡®langots¡¯ to vests made of bamboo fibre. The chain has been diversified into three categories and all apparels and accessories will be sold under the brand names- ?LiveFit, Aastha and Sanskar.
¡°India and Indian values (sanskar) with the self-respect of home-production (swadeshi) ¨C this is Patanjali¡¯s identity. We recognize?and respect our culture and traditions,¡± ?Ramdev reportedly said.
The products¡¯ target consumer is women, particularly housewives. And he claimed that the apparels were priced at such an affordable price that men who do not earn much could also purchase it for their wives.
This is, however, not the end of so-called ¡®indigenization¡¯ of all foreign products. Patanjali also has plans to enter the kitchen section with packaged drinking water, milk and milk products, and sanitary napkins. The question that remains is this: Are Indians ready to empty their pockets for the same amount for a ¡®sanskaari ripped¡¯ jeans instead of global brands like Levi¡¯s, Zara and other foreign brands which have spent years remodelling their products to suit the Indian needs?