Give a gift to someone you care about
My grandmother often told us stories when we were little that Santa only gifts children who have been ‘good’. In the adult world, it’s difficult to keep it that narrow. Why be so restrictive? And you can’t really tell how good someone else, who you might want to gift, has been. When the New Year is around the corner, we’re prone to looking back at the year. How good was it? How good have we been? How inflated or unreal is our assessment? We overlook mistakes, we reminisce about accomplishments and about what we learnt. We get nostalgic thinking of people who’ve cared for us, whose words, actions or mere presence has illuminated our lives.
It may be that 3am friend who was always around to commiserate with us, or that grumpy uncle who we’ve recently discovered is not all that bad — he actually dispensed life-changing advice, or the new colleague who has become a confidante.
As we prepare to ring in the New Year, we could do well to reanimate old relations and vivify new ones. What better way than giving thoughtful gifts? Research indicates that people who give, feel as much satisfaction as those who ‘receive’.
When we give, we build connections with people. We provide them the chance to accept our feelings and let them know what they mean to us. And the gifts need not be extravagant. It’s the thought behind the gesture that needs to shine.
Sana Khan, from Pakistan, who has lived in Dubai for four years, works as a beautician. She’s decided to surprise the building’s cleaning staff by gifting them all a makeover as a New Year gift. Sana feels these women help out throughout the year and would like to offer them something from her own skill-set to make them look beautiful. “We thought, why not give them happiness right at the start of 2018,” says Sana.
Worried for her husband, Amit, who misses his dog in India, Rashi Raheja, an interior designer from India, got a puppy for her husband. “He would see people walking their dogs in the park… he called home frequently to check on the pet. So, I gifted him a puppy,” says a satisfied Rashi.
Psychologists say giving gifts is a salient feature of human interaction, building relationships and strengthening ties with family and friends.
As thousands of expats make Dubai their second home, they make an effort to be connected with family and friends back home. Nostalgia takes centrestage, especially during festivities and with the onset of the New Year.
To stay connected and share the love, Kamlesh Gohil, a software engineer, is planning to gift memories to his family back in Mumbai. “I have never given New Year gifts to my family. This year, we are away for the first time ever and we strongly feel the need to wish them happiness and send gifts.” So, he’s working with his sister who lives in another town to make a short video of childhood memories and moments spent together. “I will send the video to them on WhatsApp.”
The emphasis is on the thought that people put into selecting their gifts and on being sensitive to what the other person would like. The last thing in the order of importance is the price. Presents need not be exorbitant — how big of a hole they create in your pocket is not indicative of how big an impact they will make.
Logistics manager Promila Chauhan says, “I believe that people who are deprived of things that we are blessed with, should be given — at least once in their lifetime — a chance to experience the happiness they wouldn’t even dream of. As children, we used to donate clothes and toys to under-privileged kids. Continuing that idea, I now donate money to an orphanage back home to help children there.”
When we give, we build connections with people. We provide them the chance to accept our feelings and let them know what they mean to us. And the gifts need not be extravagant