568
31 August 2012
R. Linda:
Recently, I came upon a story from India, where an entrepreneur by the name of Rajesh Shah opened a men's clothing store where Western men's clothing is sold. Now what be wrong with that you ask? Ya think it could be the name of his men's shop? The shop he named after Adolph Hitler. Oh yes, he did, and why? Well, the explanation is simple, "Hitler was a nickname given to my business partner Manish Chandani's grandfather because of his strict nature. Frankly, till the time we applied for the trademark permission, I had only heard that Hitler was a strict man." Later, he said that he got the name from Chandani's grandfather who acted the role in college and the name . . . well, it stuck because he was a strict man.
UH DUH.
The Jewish community within Vastrapur clued our misguided entrepreneur that they were not buying a shred of clothing from a store with the name Hitler on it. A group from the local temple stopped by to have a friendly dialogue with Rajesh but were not able to convince him the store name was a bad idea.
Menasseh Solomon, secretary of the Magen Abraham Synagogue said this about Rajesh, "He said his concept was never to hurt the community, and he feigned ignorance about Hitler . . . But after we left, we began to believe that he may have been aware of all this and was just pretending to be ignorant."
Rajesh said he only found out the truth about Hitler when he googled the dictator's name. Further, he will only change the store's name if he is paid the exact monies he paid out in promoting the new shop. He also implied he lived under a rock most of his life and that's why he never heard the name. Sorry, couldn't resist that last.
He also said, "None of the other people are complaining, only a few Jewish families. I have not hurt any sentiments of the majority Hindu community. If he did something in Germany, is that our concern?"
UH DUH!
I don't have to list what be wrong with that statement of ignorance, you get it, I get it, everyone gets it, except Rajesh and his partner. But this isn't the only business in India with Hitler in its name, there actually are a few. There is a pool room named Hitler's Den, in Ahmedabad and the proprietor there believes his business thrives from the shock value of the name. At least he isn't feigning ignorance.
I find it interesting that the above photo shows Rajesh wearing a t-shirt with Gandhi's face on it, a man who promoted world unity through peaceful means and above is the store's name bearing the moniker of the bloodthirsty monster, who not only executed millions but ravished Europe to rubble with no regard for human life. I dunno, I smell hypocrite big time.
Gabe
Copyright © 2012 All rights reserved
31 August 2012
R. Linda:
Recently, I came upon a story from India, where an entrepreneur by the name of Rajesh Shah opened a men's clothing store where Western men's clothing is sold. Now what be wrong with that you ask? Ya think it could be the name of his men's shop? The shop he named after Adolph Hitler. Oh yes, he did, and why? Well, the explanation is simple, "Hitler was a nickname given to my business partner Manish Chandani's grandfather because of his strict nature. Frankly, till the time we applied for the trademark permission, I had only heard that Hitler was a strict man." Later, he said that he got the name from Chandani's grandfather who acted the role in college and the name . . . well, it stuck because he was a strict man.
UH DUH.
 |
| Rajesh Shah holding his business card |
The Jewish community within Vastrapur clued our misguided entrepreneur that they were not buying a shred of clothing from a store with the name Hitler on it. A group from the local temple stopped by to have a friendly dialogue with Rajesh but were not able to convince him the store name was a bad idea.
Menasseh Solomon, secretary of the Magen Abraham Synagogue said this about Rajesh, "He said his concept was never to hurt the community, and he feigned ignorance about Hitler . . . But after we left, we began to believe that he may have been aware of all this and was just pretending to be ignorant."
Rajesh said he only found out the truth about Hitler when he googled the dictator's name. Further, he will only change the store's name if he is paid the exact monies he paid out in promoting the new shop. He also implied he lived under a rock most of his life and that's why he never heard the name. Sorry, couldn't resist that last.
He also said, "None of the other people are complaining, only a few Jewish families. I have not hurt any sentiments of the majority Hindu community. If he did something in Germany, is that our concern?"
UH DUH!
 |
| Rajesh and his storefront sign |
I don't have to list what be wrong with that statement of ignorance, you get it, I get it, everyone gets it, except Rajesh and his partner. But this isn't the only business in India with Hitler in its name, there actually are a few. There is a pool room named Hitler's Den, in Ahmedabad and the proprietor there believes his business thrives from the shock value of the name. At least he isn't feigning ignorance.
I find it interesting that the above photo shows Rajesh wearing a t-shirt with Gandhi's face on it, a man who promoted world unity through peaceful means and above is the store's name bearing the moniker of the bloodthirsty monster, who not only executed millions but ravished Europe to rubble with no regard for human life. I dunno, I smell hypocrite big time.
Gabe
Copyright © 2012 All rights reserved
