Modern-day parenting is similar across households, wherein animated voices from tablets and mobile phones run in a loop without any pauses. Screens are now filling pauses that once held conversation or silence. Parents feel screens are both a solution and a bane. Families are now increasingly trying to find ways to develop cultural familiarity when so much of early life is screen-led.
For Sukriti and Rajat Mendiratta, the realisation struck not through research but reflection. As new parents, they kept thinking about how their childhood remained strongly rooted in culture more than being introduced to it.
“We didn’t grow up learning culture through lessons or tools,” echoed Sukriti Mendiratta, founder, Panda’s Box. “Mantras kept playing in the background, epics were told casually, and rituals happened at regular intervals. We didn’t time all these moments, but they innately became a part of our lives without us realising it.”
This idea that culture is absorbed, not taught, became the foundation of Panda’s Box, a screen-free parenting brand designed to reintroduce Indian cultural elements into early childhood in a way that feels natural rather than instructional.
Culture as a Presence, Not a Lesson
When we look back at the bygone days, Indian households were filled with sounds, rhythms, and stories, with repetition happening daily, making one familiar with the cultural way before learning. In Rajat Mendiratta’s words, modern parenting has unintentionally shifted culture into something structured and occasional.
“Today, culture often shows up during festivals or special moments,” he voices. “But when it’s limited to events, children don’t grow up feeling familiar with it. They experience it as something external.”
Panda’s Box draws from older modes of cultural transmission—through sound, touch, and repetition. Its products include mantra-chanting plush toys, storytelling companions, and simple, tactile tools that are part of a child’s everyday world. With the intent of introducing cultural elements with a modern flavour, the aim is to help the child learn their culture by listening, feeling, and recognising these elements over time.
“Children don’t need explanations, but exposure,” Rajat underscores.
Designed for Modern Parenting Realities
A defining aspect of Panda’s Box is what it doesn’t ask of parents. There are no instructions to follow, no outcomes to measure, and no structured sessions to schedule. In a time-starved parenting landscape, that choice is deliberate.
“Our goal was never to add another task,” Sukriti explains. “We wanted to support moments that already exist—playtime, quiet time, bedtime.”
Since the plushies and other products are screen-free and open-ended, children use them instinctively. Parents put forth how their children include the products while simply moving around in the house, include them in imaginative play, snuggle them during sleep time, or converse with them like companions. Over time, cultural sounds and stories become part of a child’s emotional landscape rather than an educational objective.
Why Screen-Free remains relevant
While Panda’s Box is not against technology, it is intentionally screen-free because of the belief that early childhood needs spaces untouched by constant stimulation. “We’re not rejecting technology, but keeping it at bay during the foundational years of children developing cognition naturally,” notes Sukriti.
Parents using Panda’s Box voice about the evident changes they see in their children. Changes like children liking the quiet moments, listening with intent, and forming attachments to familiar sounds.
Rootedness and Emotional Confidence
Panda’s Box firmly believes that cultural immersion helps children develop improved emotional grounding. is a belief that cultural familiarity supports emotional grounding. When children grow up recognising certain sounds, stories, or symbols, they develop a sense of belonging that strengthens confidence.
“A rooted child is a confident child,” Rajat puts forth. “Cultural familiarity gives reassurance, not pressure.”
The approach is not to imbue stern belief systems but continuity in offering something recognisable that stays with children for a lifetime and helps them navigate new environments.
Culture Beyond Festivals
Indian families inadvertently are seeing a stark shift by thinking that cultural aspects are only occasional and restricted to taking traditional pictures, celebrating in a time-bound environment. Though meaningful, these moments barely create familiarity.
“Culture was once part of everyday childhood,” Rajat says. “Somewhere along the way, it became something we visit occasionally.”
Panda’s Box aims to bring back the fading times wherein moments of quiet define to be unremarkably formative.
More Than a Product
Having begun as a personal parenting need, Panda’s Box has garnered immense positive feedback in shaping meaningful, culture-filled childhoods without the need for exposure to screens during the child’s developmental years. Panda’s Box has organically grown through word-of-mouth, showcasing parents seeking grounded alternatives.
Sukriti concludes by saying, “We’re not trying to be loud. We’re trying to be present.”
Founded in April 2022, Panda’s Box is a Delhi-NCR–based startup creating screen-free, culturally rooted early learning experiences for children aged 0–6. Inspired by the founder’s personal parenting journey, the brand offers a range of thoughtfully crafted mantra chanting plushies, interactive musical books and storytellers that nurture emotional well-being, creativity, and connection to Indian heritage. Panda’s Box aims to support holistic childhood development by offering calm, hands-on alternatives to digital engagement, helping families build strong foundations for children through purposeful play.
