As humans mature, they tend to interpret life as a series of events often disconnected from each other, which becomes clear when we read the biographies or autobiographies. These mostly independently events are then intricately linked to form a flow to the story we all believe (and take pride in) that we have to tell it to the upcoming generations. Off topic, this single ability to learn from someone that walked this planet 500 years ago because of the robust communication channel that exists between us is a distinct advantage humanity has over other species.
These happenings and events in our life are often commemorated by dates, photos, videos and gifts. And while the first three are pretty standard, gifts and giftings have a lot of meaning. Or at least, had a lot of meaning. Until, we, as a society collectively stripped it of this meaning and made it a ritual. A mere ritual where we see
(A) A person shopping for a gift based on budget, taking recommendations from the executives around the store, and often gifting inorganic products that neither convey their emotion nor resonate with the taste of either of the parties
(B) A person deploying another person with a standard set of instructions to shop for the most generic gift the receive will receive on that occasion
(C) Gift cards because one does not want to take the pain of carefully curating a gift but also doesn’t want their gift to end up as a showpiece in the urban dungeon.
I’m not discrediting the ritual per se, as most generic gifts in formal occasions are representatives of the common emotions that many feel during certain common events. For examples,
(A) Gifting a bouquet of roses for most welcomes and congratulations for emotions that fade over time and always come with thorns of adjustment and adaptation (during welcomes) or efforts and pain (during congratulations)
(B) The whole ceremony of marriage which often involves adorning the other with a piece of metal (at least in Hinduism and Christianity) to evoke emotions for as long as the human lives.
(C) Chocolates and sweets on occasions that are momentary for the other party, just like one’s achievement is a matter of least concern for the other party
(D) all the silverware and showcase items gifted in marriages and housewarming ceremonies to contribute to the quality of life of the receiver as well as become a memorabilia
(E) as seen in south India, gifting regular kitchen utensils with names of dead etched on them, to represent that the said ancestor shall be memorized as long as the utensil stays.
(F) literally all graveyard stones serving as memoirs that shall not fade in a 1000 years or so time period.
Rather, I’m interested in asking you to think about the following aspects in the life of the other person before choosing a gift like timeframes and functions, before the budget and shopkeepers suggestion. How? Well,
(A) timeframe - of the occasion. Hours/days for victories and achievements, Days/months for birthdays, years/decades for ceremonies, lifetime for graduation/marriage/childbirth. Choose a gift that shall be a representative of this timeframe
(B) Function - as a usable (consumable) product which will add value to receiver’s life and perish over time or a storable memorabilia that shall never be touched and looked consciously upon rarely. In selecting the latter, one should always focus on the relationship involved and personalize based on the emotion they wish to invoke.
Pro-tips:
(1) Personalized gifts are always recieved with more warmth and affection.
(2) Always explain your logic to the receiver (if you have had any).
(3) Try to learn how the receiver treats such presents and reflect accordingly.
(4) If you are financially incapable of reaching to their standard, prolly drop in a letter that they shall cherish more than the gift itself.
Happy gifting!!! 😁😁😁