Indian custom: Gifting sweets when returning from travel

6/10/2022 5:11:19 AM

I’ve noticed this too, growing up with Indian parents my dad would always come how with boxes and boxes of sweets after each business trip and we woudl keep some for ourselves and distribute most of it to family and colleagues. oh and i remember always bringing sweets whenever it was birthday to share it with my classmates throughout elementary school. when i was younger i thought it was normal and thats what everyone does but as i grew older i realised thats not always true. I don’t exactly know why but when it comes to gift-giving Indian sweets are a staple in Indian culture no matter which side you’re from. ig thats something both south and north have in common lol but now that i think about it i think its cause sweets are usually something eaten during joyful occasions so ig its to spread your happiness with others ??? doesn’t sugar like stimulate dopamine in your brain which makes one feel elate so maybe its got something to do with that idk

2/13/2020 3:44:25 PM

This seems to be integral to every culture, not just India. I wonder where the original poster is from? It is common practice to bring edibles from any vacation spot or trip home, or work conference, back to work colleagues. Standard practice, in fact. Where I work, people do this from Europe, from China, from Japan, from Australia, from middle-eastern countries etc etc etc. You reciprocate by bringing things back for everyone when you go on a vacation. And so the cycle continues.

5/9/2018 4:40:24 AM

To answer your question-

  • Sweet distribution is certainly an integral part of Indian culture to show our happiness for any good occasions. ‘Visiting home/parents’ is a big happy occasion for us- we just try to share those happy feelings with people (colleagues) around us when we return to offices. So, you can say it is more like “Hey I am back from home and I got something from India (home) to share with you all 😊”. Another idea behind is not all of us can make home trip (especially for people outside India) so frequently so let’s share the feeling of your home with these sweets. We Indians always crave for home-made food. This certainly brings us one step closer to our family while we are away from them. In short, this gesture is a sentimental/emotional attachment towards our home.

  • If there is any special occasion, the person would probably mention it.

  • Sweets are definitely the first choice but one can distribute snacks & savoury items too.

  • ‘Thank you’ is sufficient and if you found the foodstuffs delicious you can always tell so / may take more 😊. You always have the option to decline if you don’t want to eat it.

  • No religious connotation behind this gesture.

5/8/2018 3:39:52 PM

Sweets (typical Indian recipes cooked at home or brought from market, not the candy you buy in stores) are an integral part of Indian culture. Distribution of sweets can happen for a variety of reasons:

  • Festivals.
  • A happy occassion in the family (wedding, birth, engagement).
  • Religious ceremony (Prasadam)
  • Other than this, coming back empty handed from your native place is considered bad form in India. So people bring local sweet delicacies as parting gift with them.

The person handing out the sweets will probably tell you if they are for a special occassion or just a part of parting gift from people back home.

A thank you would be considered appropriate response on your part.

You may decline or ask for other one.

Credit:stackoverflow.com‘

About me

Hello,My name is Aparna Patel,I’m a Travel Blogger and Photographer who travel the world full-time with my hubby.I like to share my travel experience.

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