“The entire institution of gift giving make no sense. Let's
say that I go out, and I spend 50 dollars on you, it's a laborious activity,
because I have to imagine what you need, where as you know what you need. Now I
could simplify things, just give you the 50 dollars directly, and you could
give me 50 dollars on my birthday, and so on, until one of us dies, leaving the
other one old and 50 dollars richer. And I ask, is it worth it?”
- Sheldon
Cooper, The Big Bang Theory
I won’t challenge what the annoyingly adorable theoretical
physicist said above because he makes sense. But that’s not the point you see?
We, being mortals, are prone to certain activities that are meant to defy logic. What may
bring with it the peril of being perceived as crazy is also something that
makes us humane. And gifting each other material possessions appears like an
adequately mad practice. Every gift, big or small, is an extension of love and concern—to put it unbiasedly. However, there was an extended phase when i wasn’t very appreciative of
the idea of wasting time on gifting ABC to XYZ. So much so i was convinced greeting cards
with their sugary lines were a devil’s enterprise. Not anymore. As of now, i’ve
come to a place where it has become strikingly clear to me that time is the
greatest gift we can present each other. If that’s not possible, then spending time on figuring out what kind of a gift would at least freeze moments for our loved ones is not too
much to ask for. In all fairness, aren’t we all biding time restlessly hoping
it would freeze, if not slow down for a while? And if a first-hand pen or a second-hand book manages
to do that for us, what’s the harm? Besides, these gifts are most probably
going to outlast us as well as whatever we thought was supposed to make sense.
