For Avani Modi Sarkar and Viral Modi, everything new begins with a prayer to Ganesh. So it was natural that the first plush religious toy they designed was of the Hindu elephant-headed god. Their initial stock was snapped up in two weeks.

Gradually, they started making mantra-singing plush toys resembling other Hindu deities that they sell online to customers in dozens of countries.

The siblings, who emigrated to New Jersey from India when both were children, started Modi Toys in 2018 after realizing their own kids and those of other Hindu immigrants would be growing up in America without the cultural exposure needed as a foundation for faith.

Modi Toys plans to shift manufacturing to India to avoid the supply-chain disruptions that its Chinese manufacturers experienced during the pandemic, and to allow it to make the toys entirely out of recycle materials, something it couldn't do in China.

Now the company aims to target one of the biggest potential markets for its products- India-with "Made in India" tags.

Source: ndtv