Cant afford a piece of the moon? A Pune-based culture startup is releasing affordable but aesthetic ISRO-themed merchandise, turning the space agency’s legendary missions into handy souvenirs
Indic Inspirations is offering items ranging from scale models, T-shirts, mugs to space-related jigsaws, toys, medallions and innovative stationery items
Last month, culture startup Indic Inspirations announced the signing of an MOU with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), initiated as part of the missions of its Capacity Development Program Office (CBPO). As a result, we will now be able to collect authorised merchandise inspired by ISRO’s missions and work.
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“The whole nation has been inspired by ISRO, and followed the progress of the Chandrayaan mission. We watched the landing of the Chandrayaan lander and would love to preserve those memories with some keepsakes,” says Sunil Jalihal, founder CEO of Indic Inspirations about the national agency that harnessed space technology for national development, while pursuing space science research and planetary exploration. “ISRO’s history, missions and achievements are stories that need to be told. These are inspiring tales of high-quality rocket science, stellar leadership and frugal engineering that have created useful applications which in turn have helped leapfrog India into the technological future.”
The startup is rolling out a collection of ISRO-themed merchandise for science and space enthusiasts, which includes a host of products from scale models, T-shirts, mugs, space-related games and toys to brass and silver medallions representing the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), playing cards embodying the engineering of the Chandrayaan and Mangalyaan missions, stationery items bearing the shapes of ISRO’s legendary rockets and even a book of photographs and factoids about ISRO’s people, missions and technology. Jalihal says they conceived the memorabilia after the team studied ISRO’s work. The idea was to capture people’s imagination and present its work through utility and design.
Indic Inspirations was launched in December 2019 with the aim of creating souvenirs and gift items that would tell stories of India’s heritage, culture, traditions and achievements, driven by research and with a focus on design, construction and packaging. The products, claims Jalihal, represent Indian expertise and have an impact on artisanal earnings, the craftspeople paid market-driven prices. The business, he says, has given artisans access to additional consumer and corporate markets, and has also helped them improve the quality of their products with better materials and processes. Indic Inspirations works with over 65 different types of crafts and with artisans based across India.
Sunil Jalihal
The organisation was born out of the non-profit Heart for Art Trust that endeavoured to promote India’s traditional arts and crafts, providing livelihoods to rural craftspeople through workshops and commissioned projects. His team has created over 40 collections of products that include specific city-inspired tokens, Indian flags, Constitution Preamble plaques and spinning wheels developed around the theme of India, The Republic, and objects associated with holistic and Vedic living. Jalihal adds, “We strive to represent India’s soft power, and create objects that are designed, manufactured and packaged to modern quality and sustainability. We are hoping to work on representing Indian achievement in other areas, like the railways, defence and industry.”
WHAT: ISRO-themed merchandise
WHERE: https://www.indicinspirations.com/
FOR: Rs 250 to Rs 4,500
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