A gift 🎁

A gift 🎁
Small or Big
Cheap or Expensive,
How to receive?
Babu went to UK in 70’s. At that time, I was alone with my son, Aby (5 year old) living in a stand-alone house, at the Hospital Compound in Nigeria.
Armed Robbers were a threat there. So I was asked to sleep in another Doctor’s home at night. They had a guest room which had a separate entry 🚪 to use.
So I would go to that house everyday around 8 pm to sleep over & Aby would wake me up at 6 am, next morning. Aby knew he was the Man of the house for the time, so he took that responsibility of waking me up early in the morning, so that we could leave their house before they woke up. When going or returning, I tried not to see them, so that we wouldn’t be a botheration for them.
Then one day when Babu phoned me, he asked,
“What shall I bring for Ammoo (the Doctor’s wife) when I come back from
UK.”
I said, “I don’t know.”
I thought about it. Ammoo has got everything!
Very rich person…
Her family runs a famous chain of Hotels in India. She didn’t lack anything I know of.
So I told Babu,
“I can’t think of anything to give her. She has everything!”
He told me,
“Why don’t you ask her,
Babu is asking, what shall he bring for you from UK?”
I was reluctant to ask her that.
Almost one month I had to sleep in their house. After few days, I made up the courage to ask her,
“Babu is asking, do you want anything from UK?”
I didn’t know what to expect as an answer or a reaction.
I was a little embarrassed 😩.
I waited…
But she was cool and immediately told me that she would like to have a “bottle green”colored, plain shiffon Sari.
I felt very relieved 😌!
I told Babu during our next phone call, what Ammoo asked for.
After two or three weeks, Babu came back.
He brought about ten Saris and one was of bottle green color. He also brought some other goodies too.
Next day, I put the bottle green Sari and some chocolates in a gift 🎁 bag and went all by myself to Ammoo’s house.
All the way to her house, I was thinking about the gift I am taking to her…
Honestly I felt like “Kuchelan” taking “Aval” to “Sree Krishnan”.
After all to Ammoo, what is it? Even though Babu remembered her request and brought them, to her, they are nothing…
I reached Ammoo’s place, she came running to receive me, since I had already phoned her about my visit.
Ammoo is a very pretty lady in her early thirties.
She had a big smile on her face.
She showed so much excitement I felt like a mustard seed because of the smallness of my gift 🎁.
She hurried…
Snatched the bag from my hand, even before I could open the door of my car 🚘 to get out.
She took out the stuff from the bag & ran to the living room. I followed her.
When I looked, the bottle green Sari was already wrapped around her somehow (but not as Saree) and one end she put around her head…
She had a big smile on her face and she looked very pretty.
She asked, “how do I look, Gigi?”
I was in another world, wondering whether I was dreaming this?
She could have bought ten or a hundred or a thousand Saris of not only the “bottle green” , but of any color, any stuff all by herself. But she accepted my gift with such an excitement as if how did she live all these years without it?
My eyes became filled with tears.
She stopped, asked me, “Gigi, what happened?
Why are you crying?”
I told her, “You made me cry 😢, I didn’t know a small gift 🎁 like this can make a rich person like you, so happy!”
She told me, “ A gift 🎁 is a gift 🎁, especially it was something I wanted for a long time. I am so happy that you gave me this.”
That’s the end of the story.
But this incident taught me a lesson.
It doesn’t matter when somebody gives a gift 🎁 to you, whether it is small or big, whether it is cheap or expensive, whether it is something you wanted or not, whether you already had the same stuff, whether you want it or not…
please tell that person, ‘you love/like it so much and you are wondering how much you were looking forward for it!’
It may be a lie, but let it be a white lie, but say it, so that the person who gifted you will become very happy and proud about the gift given to you.
Yes, I did.
I became very happy & proud of the gift 🎁 I gave Ammoo.