Tke PINK BOX

Eleven-year-old Madhuri lived with her parents in a small town, nestling in a forested village in Rajasthan. Her father was a small-scale merchant who sold beaded mirrorwork jewellery at his market stall, whereas her mother was a tailor and embroiderer.

- Neha Bhatia

Each day, when Madhuri returned from school, she found her mother engaged in sewing, embroidering, and crafting colourful dresses for men and women.

Her eyes were focused on fine details sequins, beads and rhinestones, patches of multi-coloured fabrics-from behind her plastic-framed glasses.

Sensing Madhuri's arrival, she would put aside her boutique equipment, kiss her daughter, and go to the kitchen to prepare lunch.

Then, when Madhuri was doing her homework, taking a nap or playing outside with the neighbourhood children, she continued her tailoring work.

This region had a famous store, Coco Crafts. It was not only the most famous craft store in the entire town; it was also special.

Two reasons this store was so popular among children were two of its products. They were specially designed and not available anywhere else.

One was the Coco Crafts Pink Box, and the other was the Coco Crafts Blue Box. Each of them came in a large metal box containing not one, two or three, but several tiny items of stationary, craft, and art supplies. While the Pink Box contained items for younger children, the Blue Box contained items for collegegoers and adolescents.

However, there was a challenge. The boxes were expensive. The Pink Box was priced at ₹10,000, and the Blue Box was priced at ₹25,000. For this reason, only the children from the wealthiest households could afford them.

But, in truth, every child in the town dreamt of having these magic-filled boxes containing all those cute notebooks and stationery supplies that every kid loved.

Madhuri had seen some friends unbox their big Pink Boxes and show her their contents.

Like every other child in the town, she wanted to be able to buy a Coco Crafts Pink Box and have it on her study table too.