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E-Pao! Essay - Watch out - the Counterfeit goods and man

Watch out - the Counterfeit goods and man

By: R.B. Thohe Pou *


What were the genuine goods that you had purchase last time? Do you know that counterfeit goods are marketed more than the genuine goods? If we study the quality of goods that are available in today's market - you will amaze to learn the fact of fake goods.

With the increase of population and advance in technology - the more counterfeit goods are increasing every year. All the genuine company that produces quality goods and genuine materials are surpassed by the counterfeit goods.

Which goods are genuine or have good quality in India? It may be strange to learn but infact genuine goods are rare to find now. All the goods from small thing like salt to non-food like clothing to human being - counterfeit goods lead the market.

You may ask - who is suppose to scrutinize all the counterfeit goods? Yes there are some responsible people but most of them are lackadaisical and some are involve in counterfeit goods or themselves are counterfeit person.

Money plays an important role, which steals the heart of the people and makes more counterfeit goods; it also produces more counterfeit people. Every thing seems to be counterfeit goods - from small things to big things and from small man to big man.

Medicine:

Do you know why we need to take more doses in medicine? Today even if we take medicine according to the prescribed doses by the physician, there is not much action taking in our body.

It is because of the counterfeit medicine flooded in the market. India is becoming one of the largest producers of forge medicine in the world.

Marijuana & other drugs

From edible to live supporting drugs - there are some drugs like marijuana, heroine and other drugs, which are mixed with other mixture of similar drugs.

Heroine, marijuana itself is harmful and adding more chemical and other mixtures can be more harmful to consume it.

Salt:

Salt is one of the cheapest foods however we hardly get pure salt without the mixture of other impure things. The quality of salt is very bad and some time it is very harmful for human consumption.

Salt is mixed with white stone and other dangerous materials. Always insist to get the iodized salt for better health even it may contain some impure particles.

Milk:

The milk you purchase in the market is adulterate with water. Mother may feed milk to her children with great love and care to her children expecting her child to be healthy. However the result may be contrary due to adulterate milk.

Fruits and vegetables:

You may no expect to get forge fruits and vegetables since most of the people get fresh fruits and vegetables in all the remote places. But the fruits and vegetables in city have different story to note.

The green vegetable and yellowish mangoes and reddish carrots are of great attraction for the housewives or maidservants also all those who go for marketing. But take a second breath before you stretch out your hand to purchase those beautiful fruits and vegetables.

The reddish carrots, which are available in the market, seem to be very enticing to purchase. However the reddish carrots are just colored with artificial color.

Two years back the suspicious reddish color carrots were detected in some markets in Pune and sent to the laboratory for further investigation and it was discovered that all those reddish color carrots were just colored by artificial color to look attractive to the consumers.

The reddish color tomatoes, yellowish banana and mangoes are sometime injected or spread with some medicines to ripe the immature one and all those attractive fruits are not healthy for human consumption; comparatively the vitamin contains in those fruits are lesser than those natural ripen fruits.

Turmeric powder and other masala powder:

Turmeric powder and other masala powder are mixed with other particles but ingeniously mixed with same color to look as genuine one. It is difficult to make out with our naked eyes without taking to the laboratory for analysis.

Rice, Dal & some other food items:

Rice is mixed with lots of stones, husk and other particles. Dal is mixed with stones and other dust particles. Flour (Atta and Maida) are also mixed with small stones and other particles. Many times all these items are harmful for human consumption.

Cold drink:

Cold drink is another beverage food that is adulterate and mixed with some poisonous chemicals. The anti-frozen chemical that contain in cold drink is poison, which is harmful to large consumption.

We may serve cold drink with love to our special visitors or guests but unintentionally or ignorantly poisoning them with our love from our heart. It may be bizarre but I have got one who gets drunk or high after taking 1.5 liter of Coca or Pepsi.

So believe me that it is harmful to consume. In 2000s, there was Pepsi drinking competition in Delhi University Campus and some students fainted after consuming 2liters of Pepsi.

Clothes:

For the people living in the remote places - the branded clothes are less concern. However in the city and metropolitan city - the branded apparel always show their status. Today the counterfeit Levi's, Woodland, Nike, Red tape, Benetton, Ally Solly etc are flooded in the market.

Electronic goods:

It is difficult to make out the genuine electronic goods that are available today in the market. Counterfeit Computer, Mobile, CDs, Radio, TV, Fridge etc are available in the market with similar price or almost half of that genuine one.

Some time people sell the inauthentic electronic goods with same price to camouflage the fake goods. The outside cover of any electronic goods may be similar with the authentic one but the configuration and other elements inside may be totally fake one.

Money and stamp: Many times we find counterfeit money and stamp in the market. Every year some people were caught in possession of counterfeit money.

One of the biggest scandals in fake stamp was carried out by Telgi and accomplice. In this fake stamp scandal - many politicians and policemen were involved.

Institutions:

Institution, which is suppose to stand as one of the purest in its name but recently it becomes a great headache for many students. Recently some of the institutions in India are found to be fake university and institutions.

There are some institutions and university, which is not recognized by UGC or NCERT. One of my friends who got admitted in B.Ed in Chattisgarh was finally packed the things went home as that institution was not recognized by UGC or not affiliated to any recognized university.

Today we need to check and recheck the authentity of the existing institution before we take the admission.

Fabricated certificate

You may no sit for any exam; you may no be eligible for the degree but if you have money, you can still possess the certificate. The fake certificates are available as like any other goods as there are some impersonating people working on it.

Impersonators

There are some impersonators almost in every cities, town and villages. The impersonators play different roles in different places but there some who play their own role.

In some insurgent dominated areas, like in northeast, there are some impersonators of the insurgent and collect money from the businessmen. There are impersonators in cities who pretend to be the gangster and demand money from the rich people.

Job Placement

Is there any job call as fake or unauthentic job? There are some job placements where you will be recruiting after taking money. However within one or two months - they will remove you from the job because they want money from you and not your service in the company.

Some people also promise a white-color job and take money. However they do not provide the job according to their promises. These kind of false promises are frequent in job placement for Indians in abroad.

Some of the above cited examples do not included everything, which are not authentic. However we may still find many things more, which are adulterate or ingenuine in many aspects.

So think twice before you stretch out your hand to purchase or taking into consider any one or anything.


R.B. Thohe Pou, a Ph.D. Research Scholar, contributes regularly to e-pao.net
He can be contacted at [email protected]
This article was webcasted on 03rd August 2006.


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