Not diamonds, pearls, or riches, but a true gift

WE MAKE A LIVING BY WHAT WE GET BUT A LIFE BY WHAT WE GIVE

When I went to my son in Chandigarh, he was curious to know what I had got for him; so I opened my magic box of titbits, including his favourite home-cooked food. The breadth of his smile beat the blue whale’s grin. Even people who have everything appreciate a gift. Nothing lifts our spirits as the joy of being loved.

Receiving a gift starts butterflies in the stomach, a childlike eagerness and excitement, no matter what age we are. As child, I looked forward to birthdays and festivals because I’d get goodies in fancy boxes decorated with bows and ribbons, untying which would release ecstasy.

Times have changed. The thrill of receiving a gift is now not so much, yet I cannot say I don’t like to be indulged. Now, however, a new attribute has made a home in me — to give gifts and feel fantastic in the receiver’s felicity. It’s satisfying to make people’s day, catch the glow on their face and the glimmer in their eyes.

The beauty of a gift lies in its appropriateness and sense of timing rather than its value. In a bad mood one day after a tiff with her grown-up children, my maid was brooding and mumbling when I calmed her down, offered her some tea, and gifted her a sari, which at once cheered her up. Overwhelmed, she hugged and blessed me. The day she wore that garment, she threw me a smile. It’s not the size of the gift that matters but the love you put into giving.

My ‘friends forever’ group of four is together for decades. We celebrate each other’s achievements and important moments with surprise parties and gifts. We love to spoil each other and we know what any of us is longing to buy. Thanks to our passion, each of us has a big collection of treasured items. A gift is not a thing but a portal of a thousand memories, a keepsake of emotions, sentiments, care, and compassion, token of timeless love.

Blessed are those who have the gift of making friends. We make a living by what we get but a life by what we give. Each day has its gifts in store, if we search at the right place. Our talents are God’s gifts. What we make of our talent is our gift to God. The greatest gifts of all are health, contentment, and good relationships. English poet William Wordsworth is so right when he says:

Pleasure is spread through the earth

In stray gifts to be claimed by whoever shall find.

The writer teaches English at a Yamunanagar college