The past few weeks I’ve been thinking about stuff that is so synonymous with our identity and lived experience at home, even though they aren’t “homemade”. And I’m thinking about this case for other countries as well especially in developing economies where goods are usually imported.

This thought really started off as a tangent of thinking about this packet of Koka and how much it means to us especially when we are away from home. How it is associated to the feeling of home when we consume it abroad. And it is this specific variant of koka that us bhutanese really associate the idea of koka with.

Its a singaporean brand and Im sure the makers would prolly have no idea how much it means to almost all the bhutanese. It is so ubiquitous at home that its become a part of our identity.

Another one that is attached to our identity, especially after reading the r/bhutan comment about it and also from bulen: Charo puencha tshu gi dhoen lu rajnigandha chhom

And I wonder what else have we attached our identity to that is not really ours?