Showcasing Odia Sarcasm, The Merchandise Way!

Showcasing Odia Sarcasm, The Merchandise Way!

Ever thought of wearing your sarcasm on your sleeve? Or drinking a cup of coffee out of it? Or carrying it around on top of your bag? Well, you can do that now, figuratively speaking. Entrepreneur Proshish Golyan has made it possible for people in Odisha to express their daily humour without any guilt and derive fun out of it with her merchandise brand Studio Sarcastic Odisha. Visit Bocca Cafe in Bhubaneswar or Cocktail Restaurant in Cuttack, and you will see the mugs, shots glasses, bags, sippers, Iphone covers, pouches and more depicting humour we are so enamoured of. And the best part? It is all in Odia, just the scripts are in English.

Studio Sarcastic Odisha was born out of a Nepali brand called Studio Sarcastic which sells merchandise, depicting messages or statements in quirky, everyday language. Proshish Golyan stumbled upon the idea quite accidentally when she found their Facebook page. “The designs were pretty quirky and creative. Being from the design background myself (Co-Founder of Design and content agency GoodVibes), I had always wanted to start a merchandise unit of my own. But again, you cannot compete with brands like Chumbak, Happily Unmarried, and starting such a venture needs huge investment. So how do you be different? I spoke to Sneha and Shivangi, the mind behind the merchandise unit from Nepal and thought of getting this to Odisha.”

People connect better with things in their regional language. And since, the Odia pride had found no commercial voice till date, Proshish decided to introduce the same. “Keeping the evolving Odia people in mind, the designs included some quirky lines like ‘Sabu bele phone’, ‘Sanskari selfie’, ‘Dhatteriki’, ‘Kan kala se’ which are a sarcastic way of showcasing the real-life characters we so often stumble upon in our day-to-day lives,” says Proshish.

A Nepali by birth, Proshish moved to Odisha after her marriage. She is yet to understand Odia clearly. Yes, you heard that right!! But, despite that, she decided to overcome the language barrier and work on bringing something new and innovative to Odisha, in their native tongue. Mother of a toddler, Proshish is also a member of the Odisha Bikerni gang. “I have done my masters from Nepal, with a specialisation in marketing. I was working with advertising agencies for the past six years, in Nepal as well as later, in Bhubaneswar. I was always an account executive in these agencies, but slowly I realised how much I love designing. Me and my friend in office started with designing some personalised stuffs for our friends and acquaintances, just for fun. Our designs were loved, the content was appreciated and most of all, it felt amazing to see them get excited. That love and admiration led us to start the design and content agency, Good Vibes,” says Proshish.

For someone who has trouble understanding and speaking Odia, how did the designs come through? “All because of friends and family,” says Proshish. The quirky Odia dialogues which grace the covers of these merchandise came through with a lot of effort. “I talked to my maid, my friends, basically anyone who could give me a punchline. The translator translated those in Odia. My first slot of punchlines came in after loads of internet surfing and conversations, not to forget the translations. It’s a team effort, honestly,” Proshish reveals.

The stocks of Studio Sarcastic Odisha are maintained in Patia, Bhubaneswar. That apart, the Studio Sarcastic Odisha also has a Facebook page where visitors can give their punchlines or ask for customised merchandise. As for Proshish, she is happy balancing work and family with elan! “If you have enough passion for your business idea, long hours spent seem nothing. Nobody can stop you from turning into a successful venture. Good Vibes and Studio Sarcastic have one thing in common ‘Design & content’ and that’s what I love doing. Not a single day feels hectic,” We bet!