'Brand India' grows with Indo-China ties

Beijing, Sep 12: With multi-dimensional improvement in Sino-Indian ties, 'Brand India' is gradually catching up in Chinese territory, seeking to relegate to the background the scars of the 1962 conflict.

''A wind of change has begun sweeping across the Chinese capital and elsewhere, beyond the great Himalayas and the Great Wall and vouching for the shift are the leading Indian restaurants, boutiques, fashion and even Hindi TV serials. One can sense it everywhere,'' an IT professional tells a visiting UNI correspondent.

Heath-conscious people are practicing Yoga and even Indian dance is evoking positive response.

Xinhua news agency Deputy Editor-in-Chief Liu Jiang says ''I practice Yoga almost every morning. It eases my stress and strain and keeps me fresh and fit, even during peak hours of work. I consider a Yoga book as one of my precious treasures.'' ''Yoga benefits for all ages are many and more and more Chinese are turning to Yoga not only for physical benefits but also to find peace and balance and connect with themselves at the deepest level,'' says the Yogi Yoga Centre spokesperson.

Indian wear, particularly Rajasthani and embroidered dresses, are commonly on public view in boutiques here. Indian dishes such as 'dosa', 'uttapam', 'idli', 'tandoori' chicken, chicken 'tikka' and 'rogan josh' dominate the menus of China's Indian restaurants, which are multiplying with the coming up of more and more Indian companies.

''The day is not far when it will be amusing to find several Chinese dropping chopsticks to slurp 'sambar'. They have started developing a taste for coconut 'chutney' with 'dosa' or 'idli', in place of soya sauce and noodles,'' says a leading Indian restaurant's manager.

Jiang Yu rates chicken curry and chicken 'tikka' as one of the finest Indian delicacies. ''Initially it was too spicy but now it has been made creamy and less spicy. Now it is fine,'' she adds. ''Indian chicken 'tikka' with Chinese beer is marvellous,'' says Mr Paul He of the Rosenberger Asia Pacific Electronic Co. Zhou Yan says, ''I developed taste for Indian food during my studies in London and continue to relish it even here (in China).'' Yan Qing, an employee at a coffee shop at Badaling (Great Wall of China), says, ''it is delicious and mouthwatering but I can afford to have it only once a while.'' The initial push to introducing south-Indian dishes came from IT professionals working in or visiting China. For most Indian employees of companies in Shanghai region, '''dosa' is an all-India dish. It is not only a delicacy for the south Indian but also for those from the north.'' Meanwhile, bolstered Indo-China relations have prompted the flow of more Indian infotech professionals and students flocking to Chinese universities, more Indian cateries have started emerging at certain places in China. However, it is yet to diffuse to the entire country.

There are thousands of Indians, most of them infotech pros, with nearly ten companies and more than 6,000 students in medical varsities in China. Of them, 60 per cent are from the south, known as the software powerhouse of India.

While it is a delight for Indians in China to get ''home food away from home,'' Indian food has slowly conquered the hearts of the Chinese, who have gradually developed a taste for it.

''Indian food, particularly non-vegetarian snacks such as chicken 'tikka masala', considered one of the best delicacies in the UK and the US, is very popular among the Chinese too,'' says Mr Bran Ding, an official with an automobile company.

This is primarily because certain Indian cuisine is rather close in flavour and style to Chinese cuisine, especially from the southern and western provinces such as Sichuan, Yuinnan and Xinjiang. 'Ayangron chaur' or lamb skewer from Xinjiang seems a Chinese cousin of northern India's mouthwatering 'seekh kabab'.

Chicken 'tikka masala' has taken a prominent place on menus of Indian restaurants. British, Americans and other foreigners here are willing to pay any price for authentic versions of Indian dishes they have come to love from back home. Taking a cue from market preferences, several outlets offering Indian dishes have sprouted in the Chinese capital and elsewhere.

''There is no doubt people are going for more Indian food now.

Earlier, about 15 per cent of our clientele was Chinese, now it is about 30 per cent,'' says an Indian restaurant manager, adding ''it is swelling every month. During festivals such as Christmas, New Year and Valentine's Day, Indian restaurants are almost packed with Chinese.'' These restaurants are comparable in quality to the best Indian restaurants anywhere in the world, the sole difference being price.

Indian restaurants in Beijing tend to be extremely heavy on the purse, which the Taj Pavilion Chef attributes to difficulties in importing ingredients as these are not available locally.

With more Indian entrepreneurs moving to China, more Indian students seeking admission to Chinese universities, tremendous scope exists for more affordable Indian restaurants here. ''This is making Indian restaurateurs aim high.''

A southern-Indian immigrant has a chain of over 20 restaurants named 'Indian Kitchen' in some cities such as Chanchun in northeastern Jilin Province. Meanwhile, a series of Yoga centres and their franchises, with a large following of students, have sprouted across China. These include the Yogi Yoga Centre, which was among the first to come up in the cool clean air beneath trees amidst chirping of birds and with Beijing's unique sunset forming the backdrop.

It is a sheer delight to observe children, including girls, chanting ''Om Suryaya Namaha'' prior to the daily yogic exercise -- breathe in, breathe out, move arms with precision. Participants are well-versed with different styles of Yoga, which they say, ''lift our energy level and usher in greater cosmological consciousness.'' Ms Yin Yan, the Centre's founder, says she wants to open up the way to the purer, more harmonious world of Yoga. She has four centres here, one in Chongqing as the southwest base and one in Guangzhou serving as the south base, with a total of more than 3,000 paid members. Another 20 Yogi Yoga franchises are scattered across the rest of China from Kunming to Suzhou.

UNI