Souvenirs from a Biscuit Baron

Ten days ago, I got a call in office from a man who said he had a collection of souvenirs, which he wanted me to see. His name sounded familiar. It was the same as the name of a fairly well-known brand of biscuits. Last week, I got to meet the 'biscuit raja' with his set of souvenirs.

I was unsure what the collection would be about, wondering if it was worth the effort of driving to the other end of the city. But once I reached there, I knew it was not a wasted trip. He has designed and got handcrafted hundreds of tiny souvenirs that are microcosms of what India means to people. Made of epoxy, ceramic and various alloys, they were mainly 'fridge magnets' as also plates, bells, boxes, keychains and thimbles. The fridge magnets were just like biscuits -- inches big, rather inches small, and had '3D'-ish 'sculptures' (for lack of a better word) on them of monuments such as the Taj Mahal, Charminar and Vidhana Soudha. There were also animals -- elephants, tigers and peacocks, essentially anything or place that evoked India to a visitor. Each souvenir was exquisitely done, with great detailing and painted in vibrant colours. I will post a photo as soon as I can instead of trying to write about how well it was done.


The highlight of the collection was a set of magnet souvenirs made by Mario Miranda. Each was a delight. A procession of people, a guy in a hammock strumming the guitar with the sea, sand and palm trees in the background, all with the Goan flavour of course, were on the souvenirs. I am sure lots of people who visit India would love to buy those capsules of memories to take home.

It struck me that we in India never have had souvenirs like that though all of us get such magnet souvenirs when we visit other countries. There is hardly a home here without a 'fridge magnet' souvenir. We collect souvenirs from other places but had no such Indian souvenirs for others visiting us. Perhaps that is because there is so much already that a tourist to India can take back, depending on his or her interests. The biscuit baron has spotted a great business opportunity. India, with its countless monuments and touristy places provides endless themes for creating souvenirs. Anyway, now this man has and I think those souvenirs might match the sales of his brand of biscuits.