What started as a search for a meaningful gift soon turned into something far more powerful — a way for Indian families around the world to pass on their culture in a form children could see, hear, and hold.
For siblings Avani Sarkar and Viral Modi, Modi Toys was never just about launching a product. It was about filling a quiet but persistent gap they noticed as new parents. They realised that while festivals and family traditions helped anchor their Indian-American identity, there was little out there that allowed their children to build that connection from the very beginning — especially through play.
“We kept asking ourselves, how do we raise kids in the U.S. with the same values and cultural awareness that we grew up with?” Avani tells Global Indian. “The answer, for us, started with toys.”
That simple idea became Modi Toys — a line of plush toys rooted in Hindu culture, starting with a mantra-singing Baby Ganesh. What made it stand out wasn’t just the design or the technology, but the intention behind it. It wasn’t about selling gods in soft-toy form. It was about creating something warm and familiar, something that introduced Indian culture through comfort, music, and everyday play.
The toys quickly found their way into homes across the Indian diaspora. Parents saw them not just as toys, but as conversation starters — a gentle way to talk about Hinduism, stories of the gods, and cultural traditions with children who were growing up far from the places their grandparents once called home. “It was never about recreating India,” says Avani. “It was about preserving the parts that shaped us, and passing those along in a way that felt natural and joyful.”
Today, Modi Toys has reached families in 39 countries, with over 55,000 homes welcoming the brand’s plush deities and storybooks. Their appeal lies in their purpose — soft toys that carry the weight of memory, language, ritual, and faith, all packaged in a form children instinctively understand.
But the journey hasn’t been without questions or hesitations. Introducing religious figures as toys raised concerns among some — could reverence and play exist side by side? “We understand that fear,” Avani says. “But we’ve also seen how these toys have opened the door to deeper respect. They’ve helped children learn the meaning behind the names, the mantras, the stories. And when that understanding grows from a young age, it stays with them.”
Even as Modi Toys expands — now with a presence in India and a growing catalogue — the mission hasn’t changed. It’s still about finding meaningful ways to hold on to heritage, even across oceans. For families navigating hyphenated identities, the toys offer a small but powerful reminder: that culture isn’t just taught, it’s lived — in stories, in songs, and sometimes, in the soft voice of a plush Ganesh singing a morning mantra. Read more
