I don’t think many here are as intelligent as me
But I will try my best to explain the relation between the thread and India’s soft power on Bangladesh.
See Banarasi sari comes under the Indian subset, if Bangladesh uses it to promote its own goods then indirectly Bangladesh is promoting India.
In the eyes of the foreigners even Bangladeshi goods become Indian goods thus blurring the boundary between what is Indian and what is Bangladeshi.
I was not at all trolling, I have a very valid point which is mentioned below. I hope you understand my logic.
Some regions in the subcontinent had its specialty textile industries - Varanasi (Benares) was just one of them (Kanchipuram being one of the other famous ones). East Bengal's (Dhakai Muslin and Tangail Handloom) textiles were just as famous worldwide as other places in India.
On top of it - our women are very adept at lightening our wallets by purchasing sarees en masse by shopping sprees at boutiques in New Delhi and Kolkata. 75% of the sarees/textiles in Kolkata are bought by Bangladeshi women (see article below).
It is my belief that we could double our GDP by blocking useless spends on Kolkata saree shopping (the sarees themselves to spend eternity on the hanger after one or two uses) - but no Bengali husband is that much of a 'baller' yet to curtail this activity by opening his mouth !!
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Sneha Sarees, Park Street, Kolkata deals with selective traditional handloom
India Correspondent01 Apr, 2017 | 2623 Views | 0 Comments
Luvi Jeswani
Kolkata: Besides being popularly known as the land of art and culture, Kolkata is also renowned for its traditional Bengali sarees all over the country and abroad. Be it the quality, colour, material or the knit-all simply love them!
Park Street in Kolkata, the recreation zone since the British age, however has come up with many new restaurants, malls, 5-star hotels, notable showrooms in the last 20 years. It proves to be one of the prime commercial and entertainment sectors of the city.
A large number of visitors from Bangladesh come to India by bus, train and air that connects Dhaka to Kolkata, the nearest access.
Sneha Sarees is one such new saree store in Park Street area, dealing with exclusive traditional handloom sarees of different varieties and ranges, available both in decent and bright colours, appropriate as per occasion demands.
"Around 70 to 75 per cent of textile industry in Park Street depends on the buying power of the visitors from Bangladesh. Our catchphrase focuses on providing all retail customers, genuine wholesale price. We don't give any sale or discount," expresses Luvi Jeswani with pride, the young entrepreneur from Sneha Sarees, regarding his family business.
"We know what is the tagging going on in the market, hence we do something different, providing a general price, the wholesale price which is lesser than the sale amount. After 35 years of working experience in Park Street, with huge market study, my father and uncle opened this shop," he added.
Shopping remains a high point for the visitors from Bangladesh in Kolkata after their hospital visits and business demands. According to Sneha Sarees, Bangladeshi customers flock together and spend more preferably before Eid-ul Fitr and Bengali New Year (April 14) Pohela Baisakh, besides emphasising year round festivals, occasions and as tourists.
There are two sorts of customers_ one comes to buy for their personal usage and others get into trading like buying from Kolkata and selling off in Bangladesh. The handloom industry in India is unbeatable, hence the reason for such high demands.
"We emphasise more on the boutique owner customers from there from business point of view and have a win-win situation," further informed Luvi Jeswani.
The United States, so far the traditional top source for tourist arrivals to India, has lost the spot to Bangladesh, it held for years. India's neighbour, Bangladesh, has become the biggest source market for the first time in terms of foreign tourists coming to the country.
Data from the Tourism Ministry showed 1.37 million visitors came to India from Bangladesh in 2016, up 21 per cent over the number in 2015. The 21 per cent growth was higher than the increase of 8.2 and 10.4 per cent seen in arrivals from the US and UK, respectively.
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I don't think anyone has dibs on calling a saree as 'Indian goods' when we don't call it that in the first place.
Bangladeshi women have been wearing sarees as long as women in the rest of India have - so I am puzzled as to what kind of logic you are proposing (Bangladeshis have now become Indianized because our women wear sarees)?
My apologies - but this has makings of some silly circular logic.
