There are many occasions to celebrate with family members and near and dear ones in a year. If in a month we are celebrating the Queen’s birthday, a few months later we are celebrating the birth of the Son of God when children eagerly anticipate gifts from a jolly, rotund man on a sleigh. And are gifts just for the young and the children? Definitely not! Little children are excited with little action figures, train sets and Lego building blocks. The adults like gifting colourful clothes, smart electronic gadgets and trendy boxes of Celebrations Cadbury chocolates. The choice of gifts and the occasions differ, but there is no doubt that the tradition of giving and taking gifts will always be there on all occasions.
The art of gifting has seen major changes in the recent past. We have heard stories about tough tyrants falling in love with smouldering or demure beauties and getting beautiful portraits done in their honour as little tokens of appreciation. A wise suggestion from a court member earned him a few golden coins from the treasury. Skip a few generations later and we saw little children making handmade cards with childish scrawls and awkward drawings being exchanged shyly with their classmates. Children begged a few pennies off their parents and got those little coloured candies from local shops and proudly gave them to their friends for their birthdays. Uncles and aunts going away on foreign trips meant just one thing – spectacular toys that cannot be found in the UK, clothes cut chicly and lovely bottles of fragrance that amazed the young and the old.
Ever been to a wedding house after the ceremonies are over? When the happily married couple’s families opened the mound of wrapped gifts, there are usually amused smiles or downright shock expressed by them! That is a ritual in itself! We have people gifting the standard dinner sets, cuckoo clocks, wall paintings where cow and sheep gazed blankly at you with a tuft of grass in their mouth, dinner sets or some house decoration items. Some are bold enough to palm off old trays or glass sets that they have owned for a few years, neatly gift wrapped in glazy green or golden wrappers have forgotten to take out the previous “best wishes” card with someone else’s name on it! And of course, there are those who always consider money better than any frivolous gift and give them in plain envelopes or the fancy ones with some decoration on them. You could always rely on your friends for the naughty gifts like sensuous lingerie sets or honeymoon packages with some good natured teasing thrown in!
Gadgets such as phones, tablets, laptops, TV sets, refrigerators, audio and video sets, room purifiers, mixers and blenders, air conditioners, etc. have also recently gained popularity. But no matter what the occasion is and how expensive the gift is, given with a smile and warmth, each holds a special value for the person gifting it and the person receiving it!
