Ever heard of the 'Golden Arches Theory of Conflict Prevention'?
It argues that no two countries have ever gone to war with the other once they have been 'colonised' by McDonald's.
The theory, put forward by New York Times columnist Thomas L Friedman in his book 'The Lexus and the Olive Tree', is meant to be tongue-in-cheek and there are obvious glaring exceptions, such as the Russia-Georgia war and the India-Pakistan conflict.
Friedman used the metaphor to describe a globalised world, where the rising middle class can afford to have McDonald's in their countries, which in turn makes the prospect of going to war unattractive - as "people like to wait in line for their burgers".
I came across this while researching for a marketing project that required a comparative analysis of the Big M and an Indian fast food eatery employing similar production methods.
I was telling my friend Dina, from Ethiopia, about the new theory. This sparked off a conversation that was so engrossing I forgot the manners to invite her into my room and we stood chatting for an hour by the door.
She told me that there were worse things perpetrated around the world, away from the constant media glare over everything America does, from its elections to exporting peace and democracy through McDonald's.
"My sister worked as an air hostess for Ethiopian Air and she would tell me that the flight she dreaded the most was the one from Bahrain," said Dina.
It was traumatising for her to see women bruised, maimed and in despair returning home after being abused or duped into dubious 'jobs'.
"And are you aware that countries like India and China are grabbing large tracts of lands in Africa to grow crops, because their cities are turning into concrete jungles? It's nothing but a new form of colonialism," she said.
According to estimates by GRAIN, a non-profit organisation that supports small farmers in Africa and around the world, 800,000 hectares of land have been 'grabbed' in Ethiopia at the rate of $1 a hectare.
Keeping in mind Ethiopia's devastating 1984 famine and the fact that at present 10 million Ethiopians still depend on food aid, the actions of these countries are just shameful and criminal.
"Not only are these farmers deprived of their farmlands but their intellectual property rights are threatened by corporations such as Starbucks," Dina continued.
Starbucks filed for the patent rights over three Ethiopian coffee varieties that would have given it the exclusive right to use the names - and to profit from them - while the farmer gets paid only three cents for every cup sold.
Starbucks eventually lost the case, but the resentment over the role of big corporations is still there.
"Most Ethiopians still won't drink coffee from Starbucks. Ethiopia is the only African country never to be colonised. The people there won't surrender," said Dina.
That reminded me of the time last year when Montblanc came out with its limited edition Gandhi pens, priced at $25,000, to commemorate his 140th birth anniversary.
For each of the 214 pens sold, the Gandhi foundation, run by his grandson, will receive $200 to $1,000 dollars, which I think is both a pittance and an insult.
"They're selling Gandhi," I thought as I saw the billboards.
He may be called the 'Father of the Nation' but he's definitely not the brand ambassador for India Inc, or Montblanc, for that matter.
I personally don't agree with everything Gandhi said, but I felt it in poor taste to 'honour' in this way a man whose entire life was spent in simplicity and renunciation of materialism.
Unscrupulous exploitation and trade practices also constitute 'violence' that people often turn a blind eye to.
Unwittingly, many of us fall prey to these and deprive a child in some part of the world a chance of proper healthcare, schooling and food.
Tomorrow is the anniversary of Gandhi's assassination at the hands of a fanatic and is observed as Martyrs' Day here in India. I don't know how it will be commemorated, but I do know that non-violence still holds true and nothing, not even the Golden Arches theory, can invalidate that.
Let's take a pledge to Make Trade Fair...
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