Blessing the bride and the bridegroom

A note such as “If for our wedding you’d like to bring us a gift/A cheque or cash would give us a lift” is tagged onto the invite itself.

Whether this persuasive plain-speaking or flat-footed forthrightness is appreciable or not, is difficult to decide.

We would agree that although nobody counts on gift money, it usually does constitute a considerable amount and can be of substantial help.

I always cherish the gift money received on my son’s marriage as it turned out to be a cash bonanza.

Fondly, I felt that the practice of giving gift in cash is no less than a recurring deposit scheme under which one pays periodical instalments, and gets a substantial amount when it is needed the most.

It is surprising, then, that howsoever lavish we may be in spending, when the question of giving money in gift comes, we become much sparing and calculating.

Invariably, we try to recall the amount given to us and feel comfortable only in keeping the score. And the delight of giving and receiving is lost in the process.

As goes a rhyming couplet: “Others’ gift, by ours, we measure/Thereby lose its charm and pleasure.”

The real bliss lies in giving and receiving alone. As the Biblical proverb pronounced: “He who giveth; and the one who taketh: A blissful duo they maketh.”

TO SHOWER BLESSINGS ON THE NEWLYWEDS IN CASH OR KIND IS PERHAPS AS OLD AS THE INSTITUTION OF MARRIAGE. MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE, IT IS A GESTURE; A SYMBOL OF LOVE AND AFFECTION