Gifts for Host

Hana

Hi,

I am leaving for India in less than 2 weeks. I will stay with my friend's family in Delhi for about one week in total (first landed, then later departure) and I dont know what to bring them. It is a middle-upper class with a father, a mother, a girl & a guy , both in their 20s. They are very very nice, so I really want to buy them some nice gifts. But there is one small problem, well, I'm a student so I dont really have much money.

I've read some other threads on IM, I can bring some chocolate & some towels(?). I read someone suggesting bringing deodorants, but is it offensive to do so? I also would like to bring something bigger/ a little more expensive than that ...

Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks

gs_uppal

gifting a deo to the kids is not offensive, they'll love it. you can bring some for their home - 'a decoration piece' as they call in india for keeping in their hall (maybe something in crystal or wood - eg. a small ship made of wood)

Paagla Dashu

Agree with gs_uppal - bring them a decorative piece that they can display in their home and remember you by.....while in India you can get a photo of yourself with the host family and present it to them in a nice frame.....

aahlberg

I suppose that this family has a refrigerator-
Get them a magnet for the fridge from your state / country.

amaresvivir

I'm also a student with a budget, and I just got back from India. What I suggest bringing: hard candies (not chocolate so much, because it is prone to melt), perfume/cologne, USA keychains, tupperware type dishes for the kitchen, and some decorative item would also be nice. T-shirts might be nice for the 20 year olds. Things don't have to be really fancy(for example, designer perfume), if your hosts are anything like mine then they will be appreciate the effort. American cosmetics are also liked very much in India, but I don't know much about your host family, it seemed that makeup use varies by region and religion.

Happy travels

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crvlvr

Remember, the family you are visiting lives in Delhi. Delhi is quite progressive and most of thie "foreign" stuff that might be well received by residents of smaller towns in India may be passe for Delhiites. As Uppal,paagala and Ahlberg suggested, I would recommend some kind of souvenier too. for the kids -- may be T-shirts that they can wear and show their friends..

ddevadatta

Give a gift that they will remember you by for a long time and that shares something of America and your area. While cosmetics, perfumes,candies, etc. are good gifts, I think personalized gifts are far more worth it. It also credits India's progress.

The gift my aunt still talks about is the wedding cake topper from my wedding 16 years ago. I colored the groom brown and black hair and kept the bride white since my wife is white. My aunt got such a kick out of that and it was so personal 9she is my fav aunt by the way), it was surely a chepa gift but memorable one.

We have Dollor stores in our area and so I do shopping there. I one time made th mistake of giving peelers to friends and relatives in india. One of them was offended by it because frankly there was not much thought put into it from my end. So watch out for the dollor stores and do not get cheap looking gifts.

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