I'm visiting our office near Delhi in late February/early March. When one of the people reporting to me came in last October for a meeting, he brought me a small model of the Taj Mahal. I'd like to bring him something from here; any suggestions? (I'm based in KS if that makes a difference.) I don't know the culture well enough to know what would be appreciated but not overdoing things.

Tons of stuff. Anything sandalwood is appreciated. Go to the Janpath area of Delhi and walk around all the shops, ultimately ending up at the Emporium. You can find all kinds of handicrafts, most of which are very ornate and very cheap, and actually most are useful. Papier mache boxes, marble boxes, wallets, belts, statues, you name it.

A couple ideas:

1) CDs with American music - jazz, blues

2) calendars (if you are going soon) with pictures of the US or your State

M&Ms and Hershey Kisses seem to be very popular with the folks I take them to in India. Every time I go back they remind me to bring them some more!

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by SanDiego1K:
1) CDs with American music - jazz, blues
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Not to belittle this idea, but Western Music CDs are very easily (legal copies too) available in India for a fraction of the cost that you would pay in the US so perhaps this gift should be going the other way??? http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/smile.gif

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by B747-437B:
Not to belittle this idea,
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Well, then, Mr. India http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/wink.gif, what do YOU suggest? What does your family like you to bring on home visits that might be relevant for office gifts?

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by SanDiego1K:
What does your family like you to bring on home visits </font>

25lbs of frozen turkey, but that is not really helpful to this discussion! http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/wink.gif

I like the M&Ms/Hershey Kisses idea. It's American, not too showy and won't offend anyone of the vegetarian persuasion. Interestingly, I used M&Ms when a group from India came to our US offices for training. Not to bore you with geek stuff, but I used M&Ms that were 10% yellow to illustrate random sampling. Some of them hadn't seen M&Ms before but they turned out to be very popular.

I did notice that when we had an event at the Jazz Museum there was a lot of interest- but it's hard to pick out music for an individual. Much easier to pick out chocolate!

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Athena53:
Not to bore you with geek stuff, but I used M&Ms that were 10% yellow to illustrate random sampling. Some of them hadn't seen M&Ms before but they turned out to be very popular.

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I think they were being polite about not seeing M&Ms before. In India the equivalent is Cadbury's Gems; and they have been around for a a long long time!

Kisses and the variations (Hugs, Almonds etc.) are welcome because of the unique packaging. You could also try liquor filled chocolates, since they are not very common.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by SJC2ISP:
I think they were being polite about not seeing M&Ms before. In India the equivalent is Cadbury's Gems; and they have been around for a a long long time!</font>

M&Ms are abundantly available in the cities as well.

Hershey's Kisses, not quite as much - those would definitely be appreciated.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by B747-437B:
M&Ms are abundantly available in the cities as well...</font>

Yes, but I think these are locally made under a licensing agreement and not as "tasty" as the real American made ones according to the people I give M&Ms to. They say the locally available varities are like "Fake Guccis" and they want the "real thing"

I doubt giving gift in a office setting is prevalent in an asymetrical reporting structure. [I however have not worked in India, but do know from experiences of my family who are still there ]

1) A subordinate bringing gifts for the superior/supervisor - Yes

2) Superior/Supervisor bringing gifts for subordinate ? rarity.

However, Employers and Superiors give sweets during religious holidays such as Diwali/Id-Ul-Fittr very similar to Christmas here.

In Athena53's case, giving bringing a gift for a child of the employee/colleague would be a nice thing. Kids love toys.

And right now, you can even bring black and white M&M's. http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/smile.gif That might be a little different since I can't imagine the marketing campaign is running worldwide.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">In Athena53's case, giving bringing a gift for a child of the employee/colleague would be a nice thing. Kids love toys.</font>

On a recent trip to India I brought baseball caps -- NYY and NYM -- (MLB licensed -- but I'm sure pirated would be fine, too) -- and they were a HUGE hit with the men and the women. I'm no Royals fan, but I imagine that caps and jerseys from the local athletic franchises would be very much appreciated. (The photos taken of everyone wearing their hats were a riot. You've never seen anything 'til you've seen a beaming woman in a sari wearing a Yankees cap.)

Thanks for the baseball cap idea! I was now grasping for a suitable container for the candy (handing the recipient a bag didn't seem that great) and putting them in a baseball cap and wrapping the whole deal with cellophane will be great.

My colleagues in India thank you in advance!

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Athena53:
...(handing the recipient a bag didn't seem that great)...</font>

On the contrary they'll even cherish the "foreign bags"; bags from duty free stores, Macy's bags, Broadway Stores, even KMart bags http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/wink.gif. So your baseball caps can be a second set of gifts.

Years ago anything foreign was in great demand but more recently foreign products are more readily available.

A bottle of Scotch and foreign cigarettes are also great gifts to take. You can purchase these on the plane before arrival into India or at the departing airports before boarding your flight to India.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by ROW2Aisle:
A bottle of Scotch and foreign cigarettes are also great gifts to take. </font>

Unless you are CERTAIN that the person drinks/smokes, I would absolutely caution against this. You can do far more damage offending someone with one of those gifts.

I had the same thoughts on Scotch and cigarettes. The people in question are relatively young and when we brought a group over to the US there were quite a few non-drinkers. (I also decided against authentic KC barbecue sauce since there were many vegetarians.) Chocolate and baseball caps are a better choice in this case.

But, my new stepson was DELIGHTED when we gave him a bottle of Balvenie double-wood bought on one of our duty-free expeditions when he was Best Man at our wedding!

I agree with the earlier suggestions, Postcards, Choclates and Brand name T-shirts, Pens are a big draw. If you want to spend more, Electronic gadgets and cooling eye glasses, drinks add in.

For drinkers, Wine is still new. may be that works (cheap too)

"Playboy"

Brahmin-

[sarcasm font on] Thanks for that great suggestion, which I'm sure will help me advance my career. The recipients (one of whom is a young lady) should find Playboy an interesting choice.[sarcasm font off]

That Publication was meant for the guys. For the lady, a nice perfume would make her very happy.

Interesting topic!
I am going to India for the first time after leaving as a child 30 years ago ....and was having difficulty thinking of what to bring for the relatives.

Postcards, chocolates, t-shirts and pens sound good. Thanks for the advice...and thanks for getting the thread started Athena.