Consumer products are the flavour of the season for Indian godmen. After Baba Ramdev launched his Patanjali brand of products, Dera Sacha Sauda Chief Gurmeet Ram Rahin Singh Insaan has decided to launch his own brand of consumer products in the country.
The products range will include basmati rice, tea, pulses and biscuit and even organic fertilizer. A company spokesperson said that the products will meet international standards. These products will be sold through teleshopping and mobile apps. The group has launched a website, ‘MSG my God and your choice’, which will list the available products.
“We don’t want to ruin our cars with spurious adulterated fuel, but do we even care about what we eat? Indeed, it is for this reason that India has become the heart disease and diabetes capital of the world. MSG is the first brand to come out with an organic line of products, nationwide,” said a company spokesperson. “The MSG products are also a step in the direction of having a healthy food business with eco-friendly and sustainable development at its heart.”
Gurmeet Ram Rahin Singh Insaan is a flamboyant figure who has thousands of followers which subscribe to his brand of humanism and spirituality. He also recently starred in a controversial movie, MSG: The Messenger, where he plays a bike riding vigilante. The movie had failed to win over movie critics though. Times of India had given it one stars out of five and said the one star was “strictly for Babaji’s intriguing choice of outfits”, while DNA had called the film “three hours of torture so painful that you start laughing at yourself”.
But despite the opinions of critics, the Dera Sacha Sauda chief has the ear of millions of followers who attend his rallies and consider him a spiritual mentor. This initial appeal, which multinationals can’t hope to match, should stand the company in good stead as it tries to prise market share away from established players.