I didn't have any scotch, honest

Whisky is the favoured spirit of Indians - in 2004, they drank 590 million litres, some 40% more than the US, which has the second largest clientele of whisky drinkers.

From the BBC article http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4941588.stm

Now that is one of the most mind boggling-ly unexpected statements I have ever read or heard. I knew there was something to be said for my ability to consume copious amounts of alcohol but being one of the largest group of whisky consumers never crossed my mind. Especially because I never drink whisky. I think I agree to a large degree with the courts that no Indian company should be allowed to market its whisky as scotch/scot if there is no sizeable amount of scotch in there. Its like calling a drink lemonade when there is no lemon juice in there (hang on...don't artificial flavours violate the same principle?? Anyway..) but that's only part of the debate. As the article goes on to mention, Andhra weavers from Pochampalli sued weavers in Bombay for calling their sarees Pochampalli too. Something doesn't sit quite right with me about that. Sure - maybe the silk from Ppalli is a certain kind which can't be grown in Maharashtra or synthesized and maybe Ppalli sarees are woven a certain way according to distinctive and unique design patterns which are not quite emulated by the Bombay weavers. But - to my mind - there are a million problems with this litigative Andhriite aproach. Ignoring the fact that it pits one Indian against another and obviously encourages regionalism (I thought the whole point of all this trading stuff was globalisation? Or was I the only one who get mislead by the world in the World Trade Organisation name?), I have these issues with all this nonsense:

A) Say I, as a weaver, source my silk from Ppalli and apply the same designs and weaving methods as the Ppalli weavers - but I weave in Bombay - why am I not allowed to call my sarees Ppalli sarees? Coke everywhere in the world is called Coke, it isn't Indian coke, English coke etc.? My argument here may be a bit fallacious considering we are talking about different manufacturers/producers of saress vs. the same Coca-Cola Company across the world, but then Coke is bottled by individual bottlers spread across the country, so you could stretch your imagination a little bit here.

B) If a Ppalli guy adopts a Benarasi or Kanjeevaram pattern (no saree manufacturer can keep churning out the same patterns - they must come up with new ones every so often) then he shouldn't be allowed to call his saree Ppalli saree anymore by extension of said Andhriite litigative mindset, right? I am not talking about the silk or even the weaving methods here, just designs, which are considered the precursors to modern software programs. Design copied, Ppalli guys gets a slap on the wrist or worse.

C) All those ready to eat meals called Punjabi Chole, Kashmiri Vegetables, Madrasi Sambhar etc. manufactured by Indian food companies or prepared in restaurants around the world should no longer be given those names either, if the food stuff was not prepared in Punjab, Kashmir and Madras respectively. No, I am not trying to play the devil's advocate here, but last I heard Cornish pasties not made in Cornwall, England may not be called Cornish pasties - period. See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cornwall/4378245.stm.

Now do you see why I am getting so uncomfortable with all this nonsense? It kind of loosely ties in with my previous post - restrictions (self imposed, legal or social) being placed on the spreading of knowledge (intellectual property to some). A guy comes up with something and calls it "regional X". If anyone else who learns/knows how to manufacture X but lives in region Y and still calls it "regional X" markets the stuff, this guy in X cries bloody murder and brings the force of the whole legal system to bear on region Y guy's ass. Surely, when I learnt making "Mysore bonda" watching my mum and now make them in my excuse for a kitchen in London, I am not cocking a snoot at all those culinary czars of Mysore? I am just making a snack, which for lack of a better name, I call "Mysore bondas".

Question for the girls - is artificial silk called silk? I would have thought since silk technically is the cocoon threads of the silkworm, artificial silk cannot be referred to as some kind of "silk"??