What to gift your Indian friend when visiting India?

Visiting an Indian Family for Dinner

Someone asked what gifts they can give to their Indian friends in India. This is something I had not thought about. Although you can buy everything in India but if you are struggling to figure out what to buy for your friend when you visit India then here are a few travel gifts I can think of.

Pens: Pens are valued in India. We Indians love pens which mean that if we have a quality pen, we will cherish it. So you can gift a pen to your Indian friend but do make sure that they are foreign.

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Board games: We love board games. Ludu, snakes and ladders, chess, carom board are some of the games we Indians love playing with our friends. So why not gift a board game, something like Monopoly, Scrabble, UNO, Connect 4, Pictionary etc.

Mp3 players: Again we Indians have grown very technical and love our gadgets. In addition, we love Bollywood movies so an MP3 player would be highly valued in India. This will allow your Indian friend to listen to their favourite Bollywood music, or religious songs and even lectures.

Bottle of whisky: A decent bottle of whisky can go down very well. But make sure the friend of yours drink. Or even chocolate liqueurs with spirits in it which is rare to find in India.

Wind-able radio with torch: This can be very handy in India especially in the villages. Even in the town and cities, it can be of great use for listening to the radio and the torch can be of use during India’s notorious power cuts.

Packet of South American coffee: We Indians are appreciating coffee more than ever before. So how about a packet of good ground coffee! We know the Americans and Europeans are big on coffee so why not get a pack for your Indian friend.

Shirts: The Boys will love a nice shirt. But find out their size.

Scented candles: These candles are very popular in the west but not so much in India. I am sure your Indian friend would love something like this.

An appropriate book can be a good idea, something on your own country perhaps. A funny book of jokes is a good idea although we may not be able to understand some of them but humour is always appreciated.

Gift giving is sort of big in India. When someone visits us, then we expect travel gifts from others. We tend to give gifts like sweets, clothes, fruits and even money to relatives. But as someone who’s visiting India, you don’t have to offer money. In fact, it will seem offensive so it’s best to stick with gifts. Feel free to ask any questions.

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31 thoughts on “What to gift your Indian friend when visiting India?”

  2. I’m sure that’ll be super helpful to a lot of visitors to India, who wonder what they should get for their hosts, friends or colleagues. 🙂

  3. A novel and sweet post, Shalu! 🙂 It’s troublesome for individuals to choose what to blessing to individuals, particularly individuals of an alternate nation.

  10. Usually people choose gifts that they quite like themselves.But it’s important to consider the interest of who you are giving them to.Your article improved my idea of selecting gifts.Very interesting article.Keep sharing.

  11. I am sure that’ll be super helpful to a lot of visitors to India .These are really new ideas to buy gift for a friend and your article improved my idea of selecting gifts.

  12. I am sure that will be super helpful to a lot of visitors to India .These are really new ideas to buy gift for a friend and your article improved my idea of selecting gifts.

  14. Thanks to sharing a very important information to us and its very helpful.It’s nice to see some interesting info in this blog.The content is so fresh with crispy information.

  17. Thanks for sharing this blog. I am regular read your posts and after read this article its very helpful to me and
    i hope in future you giving us to fresh and latest tips about indian friend.

  18. Hi Shalu Sharma,

    Great list of Super gift indeed!
    I love these type of gift. This is really great collection of gift for every type of people. I think Pen is most valuable gift for all type of people.

    Thanks Shalu for sharing such great gift.
    Regards:
    Areesha Noor!

  19. Nice post Shalu!! I liked all of the ideas, especially the radio for rural areas.
    I also have a blog for gift ideas for india trip at giftsforindia.com

  20. Hey Shalu, it’s a great concept about choosing gifts for Indian friend. When I was situated in Canada, I used to to send the gifts to India for my friends. I was sent the new smartphones, gaming console, digital cams and chocolates to India.

  21. Can I tell truth here.most of indian friends are very friendly.I like most of indians.but there was a part of indians are not friendly.but once I visiting indian, I alwasy give my indian friends some gifts.

  23. Hi Shalu,
    Fabulous and forthright set of articles. Thank you immensely!
    Any ideas for gifts fora friend’s children (various ages and genders), a secretary (female) and a driver (male)? I love the tradition of gift giving but find it hard to know what would be most appreciated…

  24. Hi Shalu!!

    I get your post too late but it’s amazing post.
    Your post is very useful for thoes who are suffering from what to gift his/her friends.

    Really your post will help many people. Nice post! Keep Sharing!

  25. it’s amazing Shalu Ji, your post is very useful for those who are not understanding what to gift their friends and relatives. Realy your post is very helpful. Nice post keep sharing!

  26. Great list! This gifts are more suitable for men. You can also include gifts for lady friends and children. Nowadays there are many gifting shops in market which provides personalized gifts. You can also include personalized gifts in the list.

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