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<p>Cultural critical thinking materials:<br>
</p>
<p>From the Hindustani Times 2 June 2015:<b>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://tinyurl.com/gvzp57h">http://tinyurl.com/gvzp57h</a> <br>
</b></p>
<p><b>Tasteless but true: Made in India Hitler ice-cream, café</b></p>
<p>If you think the Nazi leader Adolf Hitler has nothing to do with
ice-creams, you’re wrong.<br>
<br>
Photographs of an ice-cream cone manufactured in Uttar Pradesh and
named ‘Hitler’ have been doing the rounds on social media, with
the brand drawing severe flak from across the world. Media reports
said the news had outraged many in Germany.<br>
<br>
The brand’s cartons were adorned with a photo of a stern-looking
Hitler dressed in a brown blazer and a cartoon of the Fuhrer
doffing his hat. Attaching the viral photos, Congress leader
Shashi Tharoor tweeted, “Height of tastelessness; Indian ice-cream
named after Hitler. Would the Germans name a sausage after Godse?”<br>
<br>
Neeraj Kumar, owner of Meerut-based MVF Products, which
manufactured the cones, said cones were named after an uncle who
was nicknamed “Hitler” because of his quick temper.<br>
<br>
“In our Uttar Pradesh village,” said Kumar, “anyone who has a
‘karak mejaz’ is called Hitler. One of my uncles is a
short-tempered and strict man, so we nicknamed him Hitler.<br>
<br>
“While naming this particular batch of cones, I thought why can’t
we have a little fun at the expense of my uncle and name the cones
after him! That was how the name originated.”<br>
<br>
Kumar wondered why photos of his product were making the rounds of
the internet now, as the Hitler cones were sold out almost a year
ago.<br>
<br>
“The naming of the cone had nothing to do with who Hitler was. One
batch of cones was called Chacha Chaudhary cones – we use names
which connect with common people and are popular,” he said, adding
his company’s wafer cones are mostly sold in Uttar Pradesh’s rural
areas.<br>
<br>
“And I don’t think we even scored some marketing points by using
Hitler’s photos. I don’t think people who buy the cones, in UP
villages, know anything about Hitler.”<br>
<br>
But much of the response on the internet has been on the lines of
how the brand name might reflect an ideological attachment to
Hitler and his politics of hatred.</p>
<p>
<b>Hitler as a brand image</b>
<br>
<br>
In India, the use of Hitler as a brand image has existed for a
long time. In 2006, a cafe called Hitler’s Cross opened in Mumbai,
complete with a portrait of the Nazi leader at the entrance, and
in 2011, a pool hall named Hitler’s Den started in Nagpur. The
names of both were changed after opposition from Jewish groups.<br>
<br>
In 2007, a home furnishing firm in Mumbai used swastikas to
promote its line of bed sheets and pillow cases called “The Nazi
Collection”. The company maintained the name stood for “New
Arrival Zone for India”.<br>
<br>
Five years later, two businessmen in Ahmedabad triggered outrage
among Jews by opening a clothing store named “Hitler”, its logo
featuring a red swastika in the dot over "i".<br>
<br>
Even in the world of cinema, there have been controversial
references to the Nazi leader. The 2011 film “Dear Friend Hitler”,
released in India as “Gandhi To Hitler”, focussed on the exchange
of letters between Mahatma Gandhi and Hitler. The 1996 Malayalam
film “Hitler” had as its protagonist a man nicknamed after the
German leader for tough personality.<br>
<br>
Reputed brands like Onida, Luxor and Hewlett-Packard have used
Hitler imagery in their advertisements. The late Bal Thackeray
publicly spoke about his admiration for the politics and policies
of Hitler.<br>
<br>
Mein Kampf, Hitler’s autobiography, remains a bestseller in India.
A 2012 research paper published by the Economic and Political
Weekly stated the book was a bestseller and that more than a dozen
publishers, including noted ones like Jaico, print the dictator’s
memoir in India.</p>
<p>
<b>Perception vs reality</b>
<br>
<br>
So, what makes “Hitler” a name that has a mass-connect?<br>
<br>
For many, Hitler is perceived as a strict authoritarian and looked
up to as someone who could perhaps be a role model for those who
want to bring order to a chaotic country like India. There are
others who remember how Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, one of India’s
greatest freedom fighters, reached out to Hitler for help in
taking on the British.<br>
<br>
Following the social media buzz, Kumar said he had checked the
internet to see the photos of the Hitler cones. “I even read some
foreign websites’ reports on the cones,” said Kumar.<br>
<br>
What hurt Kumar was reading numerous comments on the internet
which hinted that “Indians do not know history” or “Indians are
unaware of the brutalities of Hitler”.<br>
<br>
“I want to tell them repeatedly that the name was not given
considering Hitler's bad political steps and what they call as the
Holocaust. I was not aware of any such bad thing,” he said.<br>
<br>
Kumar’s clarification strengthens what has already been said time
and again: Holocaust awareness in India is limited and Hitler is
understood by many as just another “strict and angry” historical
figure who led Germany in World War II. Holocaust refers to the
genocide of nearly six million Jews by Hitler’s regime.<br>
<br>
“Large sections of Indians are not aware of who Hitler actually
was and what the Holocaust meant. They do not understand the
long-term implications of using Hitler as a brand image and the
culture that it brings with it,” said N Bhaskara Rao,
founder–chairman of the Centre for Media Studies (CMS).<br>
<br>
But the disconnect between perception and reality becomes apparent
when one talks to Rajesh, a pavement book-store owner in Delhi’s
Connaught Place, who said he sells several copies of Mein Kampf
every week.<br>
<br>
Not only is the book sold in India in English, translations in
Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati, Malayalam and Tamil too are available
widely.<br>
<br>
“Mein Kampf has a huge readership. I have been in the business for
more than 20 years and every year it has sold well,” Rajesh said.<br>
<br>
He said he knew nothing about Hitler’s political life. “Bande ne
bas ek book likha aur wo bestseller bangaya. (The guy just wrote
one book which made him a bestseller).”</p>
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