A ladi of smart gifts, freebies and animal care

The festival of lights has always been an occasion for firms to dole out products which are out-of-the-box. This Diwali is no different. From induction cookers that can play music to lamps made from recycled wine bottles, to ethnic wear with handmade tribal art and customised cupcakes and macaroons - this Diwali lets you stand out when you present gifts to your loved ones. But the festival is not only about gifts. With many organisations raising their voice to have a smoke-free Diwali, Kiyaa, the ‘Indian Barbie’ brand, has also gotten aboard the bandwagon, but for the safety of animals that feel threatened by the sound of crackers.

More diyas, less crackers

With the help of Blue Cross volunteers, Kiyaa, the ‘Indian Barbie’ brand, will campaign to provide shelter to the homeless animals on the eve of Diwali.

The social campaign ‘Do Not Scare your Pets and Community Animals with your Crackers’, as the name suggests, will be conducted in a bid to make people aware of how threatened animals feel when crackers are burst.

“Providing animals a shelter will ensure their safety from crackers,” disclosed Hima Sailaja Theerdhala, director of Shel Studio, the fashion studio which hit up with the idea of India’s own doll.

An ISB alumni-turned-fashion designer Sailaja, said, “Kiyaa will take lead every festival to communicate values to our children. This is a small effort to ensure a great future for our kids. Last Dasara, we had organised a unique workshop on Indian culture and values, familiarised our children with Durga Puja, culture, tradition, rituals and dances associated with it. And now we hope to have a Diwali where there are many diyas and fewer crackers.”

Tech, online firms roll out freebies for Diwali

IT and telecommunications players have rolled out out-of-the-box offers to catch the fancy of the customers this Diwali. While some are offering free festive apps, others are offering rebates on talk time and some others are offering freebies.

Microsoft and Amazon are offering a discount of Rs 4,000 on the Xbox One and are giving away the FIFA 15 game for free. The Xbox One video game console is currently available on Amazon.in for Rs 35,990.

To add to the fun this festive season, mobile handset maker Blackberry is offering its users free applications like Diwali Greetings for BlackBerry 10, Indian sweets recipes, party planning, party games, cocktail mixer remixed, etc.

South Korean electronics major Samsung has introduced exciting promotional offers on home appliances and audio visual products. These include assured gifts, instant cash back, free installation and service schemes.

As part of the online shopping dhamaka, Amazon.in hosted the Diwali Dhamaka Week from October 10 to16. It offered great deals across hundreds of products from all categories enabling great savings for customers every day and every hour on their festive shopping. To make Diwali more exciting, OPPO Mobiles India, a Chinese smartphone brand entered the Indian market earlier this year, has launched a contest on Facebook that gives users a chance to win the Diwali Bonanza - home digitisation products worth Rs 5 lakh - as the grand prize while 10 other winners can take home an OPPO N1 worth Rs 32,990 signed by superstar

and OPPO brand ambassador Hrithik Roshan.

Quirky Diwali gifts Smart induction cook top

Manufactured by E-Durables, the smart induction cook tops will surely make anyone happy this festival. With the capacity to connect smartphones and bluetooth devices to the cook top, it can play music through its in-built speakers and download an audio cookbook, which the person cooking can listen to and whip up a dish in a jiffy.

"The kitchen is the only place where there is no use of a smartphone and this smart induction cook top is an attempt to make cooking an enjoyable experience," Gaurav Bhutani, vice president, sales and marketing of E-durables, said.

Launched this year on e-commerce websites, it can be purchased for Rs 3,995 along with a free 4GB pen drive as a special Diwali offer.

Fancy eco-friendly lamps

If you are planning to gift someone something different, then give a lamp made out of recycled wine or beer bottles with a personalised message engraved on it.

Reasonably priced, with the maximum price for a lamp shade going up to Rs 1,599, the Kavi night lamps have images of Lord Buddha, Ganesha and Lakshmi, Che Guevera, Marlyn Monroe and many musicians, which would appeal to people of all ages.

Ethnic wear

But if one does not want to gift home appliances or decor items, there is a wide variety of ethnic wear to choose from at EthnicShack and what's more, the designs are by tribal artists.

"Our Diwali collection has Pattachitra art with patterns depicting scenes from the Ramayana and other mythological folklore," says Srijata Bhatanagar, chief executive officer and co-founder of EthnicShack.

They mostly sell dupattas and saris that are priced from Rs10, 500 to 12,000.