I strongly believe in the quote -
God created man and then he had a better idea!
Quoted from an Archies Mug that I had received as a gift longtime back.
Gifts are something that we all love to receive specially from people we love. It’s a memento that shows you are being loved and cared by others. That’s why choosing gifts for your near and dear ones is so special. Gifts are priceless, they are not fastened by the price tag of the item given or received and it’s just the feeling that matters. A small little thing hardly of any value can make up a priceless gift or the gift can be an expensive item.
Being a poorly salaried person, I can hardly buy the expensive stuffs even if I wish to, so my gifts are generally queer and unimaginable ones.
My husband who’s my ex boyfriend has been tolerating me and my total craziness for the past 8 years, 4 years before marriage and almost 4 years after marriage. So my husband has received the most peculiar sorts of gifts that any man of his stature can dream of. So here is a small list of the gifts that my husband has received from me and might receive in the future -
1. This was one of the first gifts that I had given him, before our marriage. It was a hot and humid afternoon and I was waiting for him in a horrid bus stand in Kolkata. As usual he was late. I was waiting under the shade of a big tree beside the bus stand, and a crow just missed to bless me by inches. I looked up to shoo-off the crow and was taken by surprise. The tree I was standing beneath was covered with bright red flowers I could hardly see any leaf. The petals of the flowers were thick and the size of each flower was little smaller than that of a normal hibiscus flower. I was bewildered to see the sight. I looked below on the ground and saw a number of those wonderful flowers lying I couldn’t help picking up one and when he was there I gave it to him. The tree was that of Palash(as we call it in Bengali, I don’t know what it is called in Hindi or English). Another time I remember I had gifted him a large leaf on which I had painted a flower. Yes, my first choice is Flowers, a single piece or a bouquet. A gift for all occasion, birthday, anniversary or any day.
2. This was after our marriage. One fine evening, my hubby got into one of his weird musical moods and honestly he sings as bad as me. So when we both start together it’s a big concert and the neighbour’s close their doors and windows. So I thought to put him off his musicals and decided to gift him some nice and melodious cassettes or CDs. Next day I went to the closest music shop and bought some nice ones for him. Well now whenever he is into such musicals, he switches to the music system. My next choice is Music cassettes and CDs.
3. My hubby loves to read. In fact during Puja’s we both have competition and fights over who’s going to finish which Puja Barshiki(Annual Durga Puja Magazines) first. And always with mighty power he wins. My third choice is Books or any literary material. I have gifted him novels, books on poems, PC Quests and even nice greeting cards with lovely quotations.
4. This was a year or so back, on Diwali/Kali Puja, he was a bit low, upset or sad. The evening before Diwali, he spoke of his childhood and how he used to have fun and burn crackers etc. So on Diwali morning, I quietly went out and bought all varieties of crackers, excluding the noisy ones, as I hate them. I packed them in colorful wrappers and gave them to him. He opened it and was rolling all over with laughter. Anyways we both had a wonderful evening burning the crackers with the kids of the locality. Gifts can be anything from paper to crackers, it matters when it is gifted. My choices are Sweets, Colorfully painted Diyas on a Diya stand, small handicraft artifacts, it can be an ordinary flute to tin man, that’s sold in the fairs.
5. It’s a common saying; the path to a man’s heart is through his stomach. The first day when I had cooked for him, it was the worst tragedy in my life. The rice had turned into porridge and the dal went God knows where. The fried potatoes had turned black. I was so upset and felt like hiding myself behind the curtains. On the table he looked at the food and then he looked at me and smilingly ate all. Because of the numbness in my eyes I couldn’t see how he ate it. But after that saga, its ages now and I have graduated in cooking, but even today he keeps on telling me that the first dinner that I cooked was the best. Yes next choice of gift can be a lovely dinner cooked by you. You can make it special by putting on some candles and soft music.
6. Last and the most precious gift a woman can gift her husband, may be is the First Child. The feeling of fatherhood is very special for every man. I am yet to present this gift. But one caution: keeping in mind that we are in India and the population is blooming, consider giving this gift just once.
Well these aren’t the only gifts that I had to shell out, many times the gifts were demanded, begged and even snatched. A very common thing that I often have to experience is after a hectic shopping spree, just when we would be calling for a taxi or cab, he would simply give a 32 intact smile and say that he would like to purchase something for him. After going through everything that’s their in the mall, totally confused on what he should buy and what not, he just leaves it to me to pick the worst one. So then I see the last of the crisp colored notes in my purse flying past the counter shelf as a token of love for my husband. Other gift choices can be something like a nice trendy T-shirts or formal shirts, leather items like wallets or belts, woolen or silk mufflers, perfumes, after-shave lotions, photo frames etc. etc. etc. At times a soft kiss and a warm cozy hug can be more precious than the most expensive diamond ring or a gold chain or bracelet.
Husband - wife relationship is very unique and special, if you can build it on terms of friendship they give you very interesting and happy moments to share and reminisce later.
I have many friends, cousins etc. who are men or boys, its from experience and observation, I conclude that it is difficult to select gifts for men. Your choices are less.
I don’t believe, hey! this is my 15th review in MS and 15 is such a special number for me, everything good that has taken place in my life is related to number 15.
I tried my level best to keep this review within limits of 8000 words. Would love to see some honest comments on this.