Once, Subeesh S, a young software engineer couldn’t convince the giant electronic MNC to patent his idea in his name that was worth a business of millions. After a heated argument, he quit.
He then came up with a portal called useindianproducts.com to guide consumers to go for quality India-made products. If you look up for ‘Indian Product’ on Google, it is the top listed website in the search results. The portal is a result of his vision to send out a message to people to go for the best Indian products in the market and give them priority over foreign goods.
“Aren’t MNCs repeating the centuries-old trick of British East India Company?
They convert our raw materials into something ‘new’ and sell them to us at exorbitant prices,” says Subeesh. He says his intention shouldn’t be misunderstood as a campaign for boycotting foreign goods. “We cannot depend entirely on Indian-made stuff. When there are quality native alternatives, our first choice should be on what is ours,” he explains.
Subeesh’s personal intro on Facebook explains how the software engineer went on from becoming an eco-friendly emergency team lead to a farmer and to a worker on eco-friendly public transport system. Since the garbage processing and management in the capital city were in doldrums, he could promote successful models in association with the local body and Kudumbashree at that time to promote source-level processing and area level management under his Bengaluru-based firm VCare. Whilst the mass-level mechanism had to be shut down in the long run, the household collection is still going strong in the city with many takers.
As the nation urges a desi Diwali and strong campaigns to ban Chinese fire-crackers hog the headlines, an initiative like this is only growing from strength to strength. The site has got respondents from the world over to suggest and help this single-man brigade beef up database and updates. The product-listing has everything from the everyday use toothpaste and washing powder to mobile phones and software products made in India. The major contributors are given due credits on the site.
“When people suggest an Indian product, and if we find it to be good, they’d go into the list of products. If they are bad at customer service, I’d strike it off. Sometimes, the money we spend to buy a foreign product goes to a place that is acting against our country. Should we be contributing to finance it? Let’s open our eyes and minds. We are not short of ideas; often as we move to implementation, people back out citing lack of time. Let people come forward and I am ready to upgrade the site to the stature of an e-mart and offer support to the entrepreneurs to market and sell Indian made goods,” he signs off.
