A few months back i was with a friend at hyderabad . He was telling me that he was going to gift another friend of him a coat as a marriage present .This friend was of middleclass economic status and for him Rs 7000-10000 for a gift had me thinking .
Seeing my expression he explained . He further explained that he had got a coat as gift when he got married from the same friend many years back . This got me thinking more about the process of gifting . For both these people coat was an essential part of marriage . Suppose both of them had just got themselves a coat each both their needs would have been satisfied . But because both were gifted coats by each other , their needs were satisfied but both of them got the "extra happiness" of receiving a costly gift .
Recently on my return from China i went souvenier hunting and to tell the truth these days its difficult to buy a gift from abroad as most of the things are available in india . But shanghai didnt disappoint as they had beautiful ceramic and wooden chopstick sets , painted chinese fans etc . For my relatives i bought these , but for one of my friends i bought a nice table tennis bat .
Being a good table tennis player himself he was the one who gifted me a table tennis bat on his visit to shanghai an year back . And now he is getting a table tennis bat as a gift from me. So here again though cheaper than the coat , we are both getting the gifts plus the "extra happiness" of the receipt of gifts .
In my collection so far i have some gifts which have been given as toys,pens etc so many years back . But each time i see them i remember the moment when the person gifted it to me and also the person . Now should a gift be costing 7000 like the coat or even say 100 rs plus like the pen . No .
My fathers brother whenever he visits anybody always carries a small packet of food as gift on all his informal visits . Though we are not Pavlovs dogs to associate his arrival with food , this small token gift always had a special appeal to his visit . It was not the food , but that small effort to procure it and gift it inspite of he like us being as busy .
Last but not the least a question to the reader , in the first two cases where the coats are exchanged and the table tennis bats are exchanged the effective effort is zero . But two people got happiness as byeproduct .
In all the laws of physics energy or anything for that matter is neither created nor destroyed . Then where does this extra happiness for two people come from ?
If you dont know the answer no problem but from now on start gifting more ...its a nice habit.
p.s : gift me a small comment if you like ...regards dr haroon marikar
Seeing my expression he explained . He further explained that he had got a coat as gift when he got married from the same friend many years back . This got me thinking more about the process of gifting . For both these people coat was an essential part of marriage . Suppose both of them had just got themselves a coat each both their needs would have been satisfied . But because both were gifted coats by each other , their needs were satisfied but both of them got the "extra happiness" of receiving a costly gift .
Recently on my return from China i went souvenier hunting and to tell the truth these days its difficult to buy a gift from abroad as most of the things are available in india . But shanghai didnt disappoint as they had beautiful ceramic and wooden chopstick sets , painted chinese fans etc . For my relatives i bought these , but for one of my friends i bought a nice table tennis bat .
Being a good table tennis player himself he was the one who gifted me a table tennis bat on his visit to shanghai an year back . And now he is getting a table tennis bat as a gift from me. So here again though cheaper than the coat , we are both getting the gifts plus the "extra happiness" of the receipt of gifts .
In my collection so far i have some gifts which have been given as toys,pens etc so many years back . But each time i see them i remember the moment when the person gifted it to me and also the person . Now should a gift be costing 7000 like the coat or even say 100 rs plus like the pen . No .
My fathers brother whenever he visits anybody always carries a small packet of food as gift on all his informal visits . Though we are not Pavlovs dogs to associate his arrival with food , this small token gift always had a special appeal to his visit . It was not the food , but that small effort to procure it and gift it inspite of he like us being as busy .
Last but not the least a question to the reader , in the first two cases where the coats are exchanged and the table tennis bats are exchanged the effective effort is zero . But two people got happiness as byeproduct .
In all the laws of physics energy or anything for that matter is neither created nor destroyed . Then where does this extra happiness for two people come from ?
If you dont know the answer no problem but from now on start gifting more ...its a nice habit.
p.s : gift me a small comment if you like ...regards dr haroon marikar
I am bewildered with your blog......
ReplyDeleteThe art of gifting will be wonderful only if you give the gift....writing big things alone will not help....Where is my Ping pong racket???
ReplyDeletemr superstar .... it will be hand delivered soon at chennai .. i was waiting to hand deliver it then only the gifting will be complete with a personal touch ...since its a handcrafted one from shanghai dont want to spoil it by couriering
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Doc. I love the Ping pong racket so much and I am so elated...
ReplyDeleteDear Folks,
" Now on start gifting more ...its a nice habit."
I second it....
Dear Mr Ping Pong
ReplyDeletenice to know that you liked the table tennis raquet . Hope u have started playing with it .
Keep practising as in a month i will come to chennai to tackle you in a tabletennis game .And u know who will win ? U :)