Gifts for the Bangladeshi Friend Who Has Everything
The problem with buying for Bangladeshi friends and family is that the obvious options are exhausted. Another box of mishti. Another saree nobody will wear. Something from the airport on the way back from Dhaka.
What actually lands is the thing that makes them laugh, or the thing that makes a flat in Queens or Croydon feel a bit more like home. Here is what to buy, sorted by who you are buying for.
For the one who is homesick
Not nostalgic objects — useful ones with the flag on them. The Made in Bangladesh glass is the one people end up using every day, which is the point. The Bangladeshi flag tote does the weekly shop. The Bangladesh apron goes to whoever does the cooking, which in most families is not a mystery.
For the one with a sense of humour about it
The Smell the Curry doormat is the single most gifted thing we make, and it is almost always bought by someone who grew up being self-conscious about exactly that and has since decided to own it.
In the same register: the Bhaat Bhorta Bhaji tee for the one who will explain it to their colleagues, and the Banglish tee for anyone who has ever started a sentence in one language and finished it in another.
For your mother
The Ammu tumbler is the obvious one and it works, because being called Ammu in print is not something that happens to most people. Pair it with the Alhamdulillah journal if she is the sort who writes things down.
For the cousin who only wears black
The Bangladsmell the curryeshi tee and the Made in Bangladesh tee are both plain enough to disappear into an existing wardrobe. If the budget stretches, the Bangladesh flag quarter-zip is the one that gets worn to the airport. The Made in Bangladesh corduroy cap is the low-commitment version.
For the new arrival
Everyone buys clothes for a new baby and almost nobody buys the ones the grandparents will actually photograph. The Bangladeshi baby onesie and the Bangladeshi toddler tee are that.
If you are genuinely stuck
Under twenty-five dollars, in rough order of how reliably they land: the Made in Bangladesh glass, the Ammu tumbler, the flag tote, the Alhamdulillah journal, the corduroy cap.
Everything is in the shop, and the accessories page is where most of the gift-sized things live.
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