Gifts from India

beach

I was thinking of asking this question for sometime. It’s on gifts for guests. A similar question has been asked before on gifts to Indian family. What is an ideal gift for a visiting foreign guest? I’m talking about business guests coming to India.

What are the expectations? What kind of gifts will people like? Would love to hear from various national perspectives…

__________________
Hampi info

cyberhippie

I always thought a selection of those delicious indian sweets, in one of those little presentation boxes would be a nice gift.
Very interesting for the foreign guest as well. Yum!!!

butterball

I had a real downer with sweets as a gift...

I stayed in a family guest house in Banaulim / Goa for a couple of weeks - and thought, as the family were so nice and accommodating, I'd give them a 'gift' on the last day before leaving.. So I went to the sweet shop in town and bought one of those 'boxes' of mixed sweets ( having heard this was always appreciated )

The look on Mum's ( mom's ) face as I gave them to her was the most devastated I'd seen in a long time ! I REALLY think she was expecting a big bundle of money or something...

Great question.. what's a good present and not too 'small' ?

I think my friends here at home seem to have a similar face when I give them their present from India - usually a paper calender written all in Malaylam with a badly printed picture of M Ghandi in each month.. I love them.. not sure about my friends though !

seventies'hippy

I'm sure you could'nt go wrong with some nicely embroided material (shawl size) depicting an Indian scene or dancer, We might be complacent with this type of souvineer but people who aren't think they're beautiful.
Also easy for packing compared to an elephant,,,,,,
cybers suggestion is also good, there'd be nothing left to pack at all

albaruni

Comfortable ornate footware has always worked for me (like Kholapuris except more comfortable). There was a shop in bangalore where we bought some nice pointy sandalwood smelling footware as gifts. they collapse into your baggage...and look fashionably wrinkled when you get back home and unpack....

volga_volga

Lord Ganesha (size, material and price depending on your purchasing power and guest's importance). Accompanied by the story - blessing for every new venture etc etc. I noticed that almost everyone in my office had one at his desk, and couldn't help buying a few for myself and friends.

A nice photobook on Indian architecture & crafts. A bit bulky for the luggage though. But can always be mailed back home separately.

Shawls (for women). But have to be careful not to buy a cheap looking one (so better leave it to a woman to buy) and, as with every item of clothing, MIND THE COLOURS (what looks good on Indian skin usually makes pale skin look pathetic).

Any hand-made-paper stationery - notebooks, hand made postcards, mailing kits... some embroidered notebooks were screaming to be bought!

albaruni

volga volga reminds me,

one of those under-the-shawl- wooden-body warmers you get in kashmir.

volga_volga

you mean kangri? too bulky to pack!

in Srinagar, they gave me a hot water bottle for my bed instead (and was it cold!). i remember waking up every morning at the crack of dawn and freezing and hugging my still warm water bottle

but where was i? yes, i would love to get a kangri as a present too. but i may not be your common business guest i guess


edit: add to the list papier-mache and wood carvings from Kashmir

albaruni

yeah that.

it's not THAT bulky, and it's useful if you want to wear your shawl here.

It's AMAZINGLY effective(sply if your hands die on you from the cold like mine often do) .

steven_ber

Interesting questions beach.

I can only answer from a tourist point of view.

What are the expectations?

None.

What kind of gifts will people like?

I went to visit a cyber friend in Delhi at the start of my last trip, he had given me loads of useful info for my trip and I was interested in meeting him, I took him a small book that I thought he may be interested in, also a half bottle of Johnny Walker.

He had took the time to find detailed maps of all the areas I was going to, found accommodation for lots of places, and give me more info than I found in 6 months of research, he also filled my tiffin (& an extra bag) with the most beautiful food imaginable, all of this was wonderful, but the hospitality he (& his family) showed towards me was my overriding memory.

On my return to Delhi I met him again, he give me a Naga shawl, he took me for a trip on a new section of the Delhi Metro (a great experience, especially on a Sunday), he then took me to the Punjab part of Delhi and watched me dribbling at the sight of all the Punjabi food on offer, he then organised a great meal, finished off with a few beers, and got me a cheap taxi to the airport.

The hospitality and the brief look at how a Delhi family live, these are the things that stick in my head the most.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Completely separate from the above!

Why do Indian people feel they need to offer gifts?

An Indian family who were not expecting me at all, and didn't know me until I turned up on their doorstep one morning (I am a friend of their son), a family whom I ended up staying with for a week, a family that would not let me pay for a single thing....... Yet they always seemed to want to buy me gifts, it was quite embarrassing; I ended up accepting gifts just to be polite.

To turn it around, I had to trick them into showing me some of their favourite clothes so that I could buy some to 'take for friends in England', just to be able to give them something I knew they would like, I didn't dare buy the father anything for fear that he would have thrown it at me, he had said in the week "You upset me by paying for your shave, you are my guest and I look after you".

I can only speak for the common (low caste) man in England, but we wouldn't offer any gifts, nor expect any.

__________________
.
How to get helpful replies to your transport/Itinerary questions.



Train information.

beach

Cyber,
An assorted sweet box is a nice option. I had some fear about the etiquette in giving sweets. It is slightly unconventional and different than the chocolates.

70’s,
Yes. That is a viable option. We have this silk painting depicts radha-krisna and all. A bit on the expensive side, when it comes to big sizes. But an A4 size ones cost ok. Also easy to pack.

Albi,

I’m a bit scared with this footwear stuff. Kholapuri is nice. I’ll love to receive a pair of footwear from a close friend. But in a business….is it OK? Kholapuri looks highly ethnic and special. So it is an exotic item people can show to colleagues back home (the main purpose of gift!). Yes, it can be shoved into a jam-packed baggage.

Volga,
Lord Ganesha is fine. Small ones are easy to carry also. But it is too common. Shawl also is a sort of personal item…. handmade stationeries…. Yes, looks interesting.

A big no to ‘Kangri’. I don’t want to burn anyone’s tummy. It’s a common accident among even people who know how to use it!!

We don’t wants to embarrass people with some expensive items. Many times gifts are to be sent to the ‘other’ colleagues also who could not come to India.

Steve,

It’s slightly difficult to explain. It’s a funny place over here. Mother-in-law expects gift from daughter in law. Daughter expects gifts from dad. Dad expects gifts from son. Son expects gifts from neighbor’s daughter…. and all these creates a mess out it

hash666

a nice gift for foreign guests would be saris, shawls,wood carvings, incense,indian sweets(some can be really sweet), tanjore paintings , indian tea ,leather goods ( since they are cheap here) , spices etc....

sillylilly

For women, I would recommend silver jewellery from India - the same stuff on sale in USA is hideously expensive. Any peridot, topaz, garnet, etc. stones set in silver make good gifts. They are good as personal as well business gifts (people you work with). All my friends at work appreciate them (and wear them often).

Also, if you are in Orissa, little brass animals you find there are cute as are Pipli work wall hangings.

Lucknow chikan work kurtas/tops are also appreciated by women. I got silk ties with typical Indian motifs - elephants, paisley design, etc. for my boss and he wears them regularly (he does have a thing for ties). I also got crepe silk scarves for ladies at work and they wear them often.

I think the thing to keep in mind when shopping for non-Indians (Westerners) is that they tend to be afraid of very colorful things - so avoid anything wildly colorful. We Indians wear anything and get away with it but others can't/won't. Muted works.

aghori

On the other hand, paintings depicting Krishna and Radha are not all that common here unless you specifically seek them out. Nice 'Om' symbol necklaces are also tough to find here.

Interesting. It is different here, not problem with those, through I don't live in a very big city.
In my opinion, it is better to avoid everything connected with religion unless the person is hindu. Just an elephant statue would be better then Ganesh.
Some souvenir would be good.
But cloths is too personal for a present to business colleague.

albaruni

Beach, if it's ornate enough, (ie, if it has all those pink and green bells and whistles) and smells nice,...like sandalwood or something footwear is ABSOLUTELY acceptable a gift...will also leave your baggage smelling nice for days after.