Birthday solutions in Pune's Ramsukh market

In the days gone by, celebrating a child’s birthday used to be a rather simple affair. What was required was a cake, a few bottles of soft drink, snacks, balloons and colourful festoons for
decoration.

Now, however, for those who are truly ambitious, a child’s birthday is nothing less than an event to be managed. Thus, you have event managers planning theme-based birthday bash, in a hotel or a hall and the cost can rake up to the number of zeros one can afford.

Inevitably, an entire industry now caters to make a child’s birthday memorable. If the cake shops offer a range of specialised and customised cakes for the birthday boy or girl, shops in Raviwar Peth specialise in the decoration items and return gifts. These stores act as the one stop shop for all the birthday bash items.
What was in and a regular feature as return gifts then — chocolates, attractive pencils, erasers and sharpeners, toys and other knick-knacks — are now passé;. Today the birthday industry has seen a tremendous growth and has come up with several attractive gift items for the tiny tots.

King Varieties located at Ramsukh Market in Ravivar Peth boasts of an array of return gifts items for kids. This 50-year-old shop caters to the need of several parents who come looking for an attractive gift for their children.

“The trend of return gifts has picked up since last eight to ten years. Earlier people used to ask for only decorative items such as happy birthday banners, balloons, and crape paper for their kid’s birthday but today return gifts have become an integral part of any birthday celebration,” says Naresh Bollu who is running the shop since six years.

He further adds, “The budget varies from person to person. The range of gifts starts from Rs3 per piece and goes on till Rs 30 or sometimes evens more. Usually we sell these items in dozens as nobody buys a single piece. People from all parts of city like Aundh, Kothrud, Karvenagar, Deccan, and Camp come to us.”
If it is a girl who is celebrating her birthday, usually the theme revolves around Barbie dolls or Cinderella. Head to these shops and woo your little princess with her favourite pink colour articles. While a wooden puzzle would cost you Rs300 per dozen, a colouring palette will cost Rs360 per dozen.

However, it’s the pencil gift set which steals the cake. This most popular gift comes for Rs84 per dozen. Apart from that a small sketch pen set or crayon set costs Rs96 per dozen. One can also buy a fancy cartoon eraser for Rs3, a colouring book for Rs5, small story book for Rs5, Magic book for Rs7 or a secret number puzzle just for Rs10.

From puzzles to trendy tiffins to water bottles, pencil sets to piggy banks, to jumbo pens, creative cutting scissors to tweety box and the list goes on.

Another shop Khinvasara’s, located at Raviwar Peth, specialises in birthday gifts and decoration. “Earlier the idea of return gifts was only restricted to the upper class, but today, every parent tries to pamper their kid by distributing return gifts,” says the owner, Mahendra Khinvasara who started this shop 20-years back as a teenager.

“Today, because of the nuclear families and single child trend, parents are much more focused towards their children. Both parents work and so increased disposable income allows them to host lavish parties. They put their best foot forward to make their birthday a great hit. From buying eye-catching decorative items to striking return gifts, they have become quite selective,” adds Khinvasara.

This shop has little high end gifts for children which are imported from China. From folding bottles, to straw glass, to tortoise sharpener, to cute brush holders, and cartoon folders, one can get them in a range of Rs180 to 600 per dozen. The gifts are catered to children aged between 2 to 15 years.

Ganesh Gift House, located at Bhori Ali in Raviwar Peth, also has a variety of gifts for children. From colourful caps to big size balloons to thermocol banners to posters of their favourite cartoon characters like Spiderman or Hannah Montana or Cinderella, this place is a one stop shop for all.