The Joy of Giving

When I was a kid, I loved getting gifts. I guess we all did. Whenever any of my innumerable relatives visited our place, they always brought something for me – be it as trivial as Diary Milk chocolate or as expensive as a frilly frock or as treasured as a story-book. The object itself didn't matter. What mattered  was the thought behind it – the planning that must have went before the object was bought. The gift proved that people thought about me – even when I was not with them. And though I was just a child, I always recognized the love behind the gesture. That's what made the gifts even more dear to me.

The tradition never changed when I went away to college. Birthdays and special occasions were a time that we freely made use of the postal service. And in this fast-paced age of technology, we even wrote letters and mailed them. What could be more personal than a letter from your Mom in her own handwriting when you are miles away from home? May be this was one of the reasons why I have always felt connected to my huge family, though we are spread all across the country.

Somehow, I was quite lucky to have a similar group of friends. We never hesitated or thought twice when we saw something that the other person would enjoy. We were always on each other's minds. And when the time finally came for our close knit group of besties (you know who you are!) to part ways, we always knew that the bond we shared would not diminish over time.

People view gifts as an obligatory gesture – something that needs to be done on certain days for certain people. Stop for a moment. Think of the impact of the same gift for the same person. Pour a little bit of your heart into it – mull it over. And then see the result. What's the point of giving a wall-piece to a guy who is staying at a rented place and doesn't have anything to decorate? What's the use of giving another pair of jeans to a girl who already thinks she has way too many? Why not look back into your time together and gift something that the person will remember forever? And I do not mean something expensive. Something as simple as a single red rose stands out amidst richly wrapped expensive gift-sets.

Invest a little less money and a little more emotion into the gifting process. The joy of the person who receives it will reflect in your own heart. And could anything be more precious?