Without saying much, here is a list of 15 things we Indians use everyday that, surprisingly, did not originate in India. Take a look.
1. Horlicks
© Horlicks (dot) in
Surprised, eh? Given how every kid grew up drinking Horlicks, we bet you always thought it was a native company. But in reality, it is manufactured by GSK, a British healthcare company.
2. Samosa
© Pinterestkapespa
Samosas may be every Indian’s favourite snack but they were originally introduced to India by Central Asia and West China. These crispy delights were called sanbusaks before Indians gave them a cooler name.
3. Dairy Milk
© Cadbury
We learnt how to say ‘Dairy Milk’ first and ‘chocolate’ next. Manufactured by Cadbury, thesechocolates were first sold in United Kingdom back in 1905. They became so widely popular, they found an unbeatable market in India, making people almost believe it was an Indian brand!
4. Bata
© Bata (dot) in
From their footwear styles to the affordable price range to the popularity amongst the middle class Indians and to the name, everything about this brand seems so Indian that it is difficult to digest the fact that Bata was actually found in Czech Republic and has its headquarters currently based in Switzerland.
5. Hindustan Unilever Limited
© Reuters
Even though Hindustan Unilever Limited has over 2 million outlets in India, the company is actually owned by an Anglo-Dutch organisation called Unilever.
6. Biryani
© Shereen Sequira
After invading Central Asia, Turkics brought a version of a dish called ‘Pilaf’ to the Indian subcontinent in the Mughal era. It began to be known as Biryani, with its many versions finding their place in major cities like Agra, Hyderabad, Malabar, Delhi, Kolkata and Lucknow.
7. Tea
© maggi (dot) in
It is strange that the beverage we just cannot live without, did not originate here. The Chinese used tea as medicine before the British introduced it to us.
8. Flipkart
© BCCL
Yeah, no doubt that Flipkart was founded by two Indian brothers, Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal, it got registered in Singapore, not India.
9. Momos
© BCCL
They may be our favourite street food today, but they were originally inspired from a variety of dumplings first made in Nepal and Tibet.
10. Silk
© BCCL
Silk was also originated in China, before it flooded the Indian market.
11. Maggi
© maggi (dot) in
Yeah, Maggi! And you always thought it was India’s contribution to the food market. Maggi, Nestle was a multinational brand that was founded by Julius Maggi in Switzerland in 1872.
12. Rajma
© Flickr (dot) com (dot) Scott Veg
Contrary to popular belief, Rajma is not Indian, let alone from Punjab. Kidney beans were exported to our country from Mexico first which led to Indian farmers growing it on their lands as well.
13. Colgate
© Colgate (dot) co (dot) in
Colgate, India’s no. 1 toothpaste, actually belongs to an American multinational company.
14. Kites
© BCCL
Not just India, kite flying is a sport played in a lot of Asian countries. In fact, kites were actually invented in China. Back then, kites were made out of silk!
15. Potatoes And Tomatoes
© BCCL
India wasn’t the first country to grow potatoes. They were introduced to us only in the 17th century. And you’d be surprised to know that tomatoes were brought to the Indian market as recent as the 19th century.
0 comments:
Post a Comment