Every dog can have its day elsewhere

In the shadowy kitchens of Tehran, Aragh Sagi - literally 'dog sweat' in Farsi - is top dog. It's bitey, high-octane moonshine that smells like rebellion and raisin-fuelled risk. Its name was born from a 1960s beagle on a label. But, today, it's the spirit of the Iranian underground. While the morality police in its hometown sniff out any fermentation fermenting, this forbidden dog has hopped the fence to, of all places, the US. In an NYC Yonkers district distillery, the stray has been groomed into SAG, a premium spirit sipping pretty in Manhattan's high-end bars.

But this isn't just about an Iranian crossover. Look at India, where the creative dog often has to bark in another yard to be heard at home. Filmmakers and writers frequently craft their most searing, 'dangerous' works for the 'outsider's gaze' - to dodge hypersensitive mobs and censors who empower them. But better these exist somewhere than nowhere at all, even at the cost of cultural transmission loss. So, instead of shutting production, we can send the sharpest satire, the most trenchant critique 'out there' hoping it will survive there - and, if lucky, like Aragh Sagi, thrive. Granted, it's a high-stakes game of hide-and-selective seek. But globalisation is a wild loop where a forbidden dog at home becomes a must-have cocktail poodle. Who says that appropriation has to be tricky?