From eco friendly to classy the choice of exchanging the token of remembrance has gone a long way now. By Jigyasu Joshi
In a country like India, where we have countless festivals and occasions, there is no wonder that we fall short of gifting ideas. Tired of the usual crockery sets and mithai dabbas on sale, students, professionals, newly-wed and firms want their gifts to stand out. The past few years have seen an increase in the trend that are stylishly Indian, Next gen and classy!
“For a long time, there were less options for people to gift. This was the whole idea on which we started making quirky stuff that also makes sense”, said Rajat Tuli, co-founder, Happily Unmarried. Now people want to gift things that reflect their personality which is at the sametime also useful. “Today everybody wants to give nice things and by nice things I mean the gifts that speak your own language, something they can relate to. Especially the young people. They want to have fun in everything. So lately we had a request for customizing gifts for a bachelor party. Gifts have now become more personalised than what it used to be in the past”, added Rajat.
More corporate jobs in lieu of traditional ones is the main reason that has bring out the change. “We basically deal with many B2B or corporate clients. They want to gift something that has that classiness in it and we provide them exactly that”, said Samarth Jhingan, Director and Product Designer, Why Knot. The brand makes innovative and quirky products out of wood. “Gifting a teddy bear for almost everyone is what used to happen years back. But now gifting isn’t cheesy anymore”, he joked.
The Gen Z is much more exposed to the global market than their parents. This has provided entrepreneurs a chance to jump on the evolving tastes of young consumers- something that shake up the old presents like pens, clocks, or diaries. Anjali Jain, trustee of Kala Dristi, an artist-run trust said that gifting is now not bound till utensils. It has become more than that. “At present every individual wants to be different in every aspect. Gifting is no exception. The silver utensil which people used to give on Diwali is passé. They come to us asking for some hand painted things. Also, kitsch art is gaining popularity”, she said. “They want some uniqueness in their gifts. All this has happened because of the changing lifestyles. In the past decade, our traditional lives have completely changed. Not that people stopped gifting raditional stuffs, but they also have a modern twist in them”, added Jain.
Also, with the increased awareness for environment, eco friendly gifting is now a days being a choice for many. What if we could gift things that don't add more stress to our already-burdened planetIJ Yes, we can. Niana, a luxury home fragrance brand makes eco-friendly, scented soy candles and reed diffusers for the environment conscious people. “There are customers we meet who like home décor and candles which should be eco-friendly as well. So we started selling scented soy candles which are 100% natural and non-toxic”, said Nishita lambroo, owner, Niana. “We infact get a lot of requests for customizing the fragrances. We mostly get requests for wedding and corporate gifting. People like to give aromatic candles as wedding gifts. Also, as a big thing now that people are giving gifts in favour. like a return gift for a birthday or wedding. So now the occasions of giving out gifts have increased even more”, she added. gyasi jodh