A blog post by Rajesh Kalra of the Times of India about a Haagen Dazs (ice-cream) outlet in Delhi has set off a nationalistic furore on Twitter and all over the Internet... Nobody really knows what's the reason behind that poster which "restricted" access only to international passport holders (what does that mean by the way? is there a passport category called "international"?). In the 8 hours since Mr. Kalra posted his story, nobody from Haagen Dazs has clarified. Some websites have said that it was an over-enthusiastic franchisee who made a mistake, since corrected.
So, an ice-cream outlet doesn't want Indians to enter, and we are all crying hoarse? Our national pride is at stake? We want the Government to do something about it? We want Barkha Dutt to do something about it? We want MNS to do something about it? Did I hear that right - MNS? There are many places that I am not allowed to enter. For various reasons. There are other places I choose not to enter. For various other reasons. What's that got to do with national pride? If a stupid ice-cream vendor wants to turn away 99% of his potential customers, then good luck to him. Remember him, and don't go there when he opens his doors to you. Teach him a commercial lesson. But for God's sake, don't make this into a nationalistic issue. And, don't drag MNS into this, even as a joke! We want our freedom, right? To speak the language we want. To live where we want. To wear what we want. To call Mumbai Bombay. We don't want MNS involved in our life, isn't it? Give that ice-cream wallah too the freedom. Eat Amul Ice Cream. Or Baskin Robbins. Whatever.
So, an ice-cream outlet doesn't want Indians to enter, and we are all crying hoarse? Our national pride is at stake? We want the Government to do something about it? We want Barkha Dutt to do something about it? We want MNS to do something about it? Did I hear that right - MNS? There are many places that I am not allowed to enter. For various reasons. There are other places I choose not to enter. For various other reasons. What's that got to do with national pride? If a stupid ice-cream vendor wants to turn away 99% of his potential customers, then good luck to him. Remember him, and don't go there when he opens his doors to you. Teach him a commercial lesson. But for God's sake, don't make this into a nationalistic issue. And, don't drag MNS into this, even as a joke! We want our freedom, right? To speak the language we want. To live where we want. To wear what we want. To call Mumbai Bombay. We don't want MNS involved in our life, isn't it? Give that ice-cream wallah too the freedom. Eat Amul Ice Cream. Or Baskin Robbins. Whatever.