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The Gift of 'Gifting'....

We all have given, received and returned or exchanged gifts throughout our lives. It's one of those inevitable, endless, at times dull social etiquettes that has been going on for many centuries, right?

In an idealistic Utopian world, gifts should be given without any 'quid pro quo' or any expectations in return, but in this real, greedy world......who are we kidding? Yeah, yeah, we've all heard the worn-out and cliched, "its the thought that matters" kind of saintly statements, but you better have high monetary standards for your thoughts, folks. Else, be ready to incur the wrath of some very hostile hosts for the rest of your social life.

Also, i've a honest confession to make. The people who have mastered this gifting technique have my full-blown, unabashed greenest envy. The way they enter a party or a house with a neatly, glossy-wrapped, present that looks like it's taken them years of thoughtful planning, makes me feel like a Neathandral woman attending a local feast, carrying in her hand the best wild boar ever caught by her hunter-man. So, i'm quite clear on this issue - some are too good at this, some are really hopeless at it and some like me can be classified as bad but trying to learn, sort of "juvenile apprentices" of this fine art.

In India, the protocols are even more complicated and confusing ever. There are some clear do's and dont's, but the rest of it is all vague and subject to so many subtle clues dropped right on your face or communicated through the family grapevine, whose members solely exist to carry this crucial information back to you. Some excuses are given if you plead under the "I'm an NRI, who doesn't have any clue" exemption, but beyond the grace period of one year....you're on your own. Cruel, ah? Why can't they make it atleast 30 years? By that time, i'll be too senile and won't have to care about these things.

Ok, now that I've scared you enough, you must be thinking about how to understand what this brouhaha is all about it. Ha, trust me, it's not that easy as it seems. So, as a service to society, I've decided to come up with my own manual (sometime in the next decade) or more like a, 'Gifting guide for clueless newbies who have recently returned to India'.
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