Urban toy story: Parents rather rent them than buy

Five-year-old Tisha anxiously waits for her mother Meghna Shah to come home. It is that day of the week when her mothers brings her a new toy to play with. Meghna, like any other mother, wants to indulge her child with the best toys she can get but unlike other moms, she does not believe in spending exorbitant amounts on playthings her child will soon grow out of.

So how does Meghna do it? She became a member of Out of the Box, a toy library in Juhu, from where parents can rent out three toys and a book per week. She, like a number of other parents, realise that it’s a smart option as children get bored of toys quickly.

Bhairavi Shah faced the same problem. “My son always wanted new toys. Toys are so expensive and spending a large amount on something that will probably not even last a month makes no sense,” she says. That is what made Bhairavi start her own Play ‘n’ Learn Library, a books and toys library in Tardeo, eight years back.The number of such libraries that have come up across the city, indicate the popularity of the concept. Bhairavi, who has been in the field since 2001, has witnessed a 30% rise in the number of families who subscribe to toy libraries.

This is especially apparent over the last 2 to 3 years, a trend she attributes to increased awareness of the concept of renting toys. The subscribers are generally middle and upper middle class families who want to provide their children with toys that have an educative value.

One of the main reasons for toy libraries to gain recognition is to do with space constraints in Mumbai homes. Ritu Kapoor, owner of the Wonderland Library, Andheri (E), says that storage is an important reason why families don’t like keeping too many toys at home. The fact that membership of these libraries are reasonable is another reason for their rising popularity.

Karishma and her sister-in-law, Hetal Zaveri, opened Out of the Box two years ago. “It is not just the kind of toys they offer but also the way they guide us in selecting a toy for the child that matters most,” says Meghna. While Karishma Zaveri says that the Apple Tree counting game and Gingerbread Man are the two most popular, and parents often come asking for them, Weighing Skills is one of Tisha’s favourites.

Her mother is happy that the game has taught Tisha the skills of weighing fruits and vegetables. “Now, when she accompanies me to the vegetable market, she understands the whole concept,” says Meghna. Pauravi Mody became a member of the Play ‘n’ Learn Library when her daughter was young and continued the membership for her son. “My daughter loves the IQ games and my son likes the puzzles. Puzzles are better rented because once your child is through with one, he/she won’t reach for it again,”
says Mody.