It's an old complaint, but 'Goods' no longer fits. The quality of so many products in India and Nepal is so poor that it pains my natural sense of efficiency, it's just a waste (cont. Engineering the world, Aldous Huxley).
Whether you are talking about the shoes, which are so poor they break when you try them on, or rain coats which leak, the standard is low. There is no quality assurance, words mean nothing. It's just a country full of small shop owners who have stacked their shops full of rubbish they try and move on.
It's not as if India is alone in this problem, it has happened before. Brands emerged in other countries out of the sea of unreliability and small businesses, and their own Del Boys. The trouble here is that words mean nothing, you can buy clothes marked with 'north face' in half the stores in Delhi and Kathmandu, but its about as useful as the link below. Every term is used and abused. All the low quality mostly synthetic cloth is labeled as Pashmina, or Cashmere, or for my favourite '70% Pashmina 30% silk'. That's roughly equivalent to 100% bullshit. You will over pay for what you buy, the sole objective of most store owners is to screw you for what they can get. Ok, this isn't entirely true, ignoring deceptive pictures food products here do have well established brands, measures and pricing. There are also reputable brands and stores in India, away from the tourist areas.
While I wouldn't want this to be seen as some vengeful rant, as aside from a leaking raincoat I haven't bought anything I felt greatly upset by, it's frustrating to watch. I've seen one American woman ranting at a store in Pokhara, Nepal at their lack of values and mistreatment of people. I didn't know exactly what her problem was, but I suspect that either what she bought didn't work or she ended up paying several times the normal rate. The answer is, if you want to buy anything, from clothing, to silk, to pashmina, or cashmere, or trekking gear. Do it back home, there is likely no bargain to be had.
I leave you with
http://9gag.com/gag/aOK6L1r
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