Making that BIG 1st Impression - What to Gift??
Today I am going to share one gift shopping experience that really drove me crazy...
This post is a part of contest at BlogaAdda.com in association with Badhai.in
“Can I help you?” said the
sales girl in a polite but stern voice. I looked up a tad embarrassed and
managed to utter “Umm..Actually I am looking for this perfect gift for my
fiancé and his parents too.” She replied “Ahh..that’s what is taking you so
long”. I checked my watch and felt the hot rush of blood colouring my cheeks
with embarrassment, I had been roaming around in this 500sq ft Archie’s Gallery
from the past 2 hours!!! Well it was not exactly my fault that I had got
engaged a week back and my would-be and his family were settled in Coimbatore
while I was in Kolkata. I had to send a nice-personal-appropriate gift for my
fiancé and in-laws which would make that perfect first impression on them. So
while I was searching around for that particular item which would bowl them
over completely!! I made a quiet exit from the shop holding my head high in a
fashion which clearly indicated that this-shop-stocks-nothing-worth-buying.
My friends told me
nerve-wracking, heart-shattering stories (ahh okiee I am exaggerating!!) of how
the courier services could lose your parcels or deliver only part of the
parcel. I was clear on the fact that I did not want it to happen to me.
Moreover, I hate packing parcels. Somehow I can’t bring myself to wrap
strips-after-strips of cello-tapes on the gifts enveloped in bubble-papers or
foam to safeguard them and then go through that nail-biting session while
waiting for the gift to reach. I decided to make my best friend to tag along
with me in my pursuit of finding that “perfect gift”. After a mini-research of
around 5 minutes with the other shopaholics’ friends of mine, I had zeroed in
on a gift shop in this fancy and glitzy shopping mall. After a hunt of 3 hours,
I had just managed to pick out an office-desk accessory for my father-in-law. I
was in two-minds about everything I saw, the fact that I knew my in-laws and
fiancé from just past one week did not help either. I mean how to know if my mom-in-law
would like a book or a show-piece, whether my fiancé would prefer a mushy
romantic gift or a practical gift-of-use. Moreover, I had no clue about their
colour preferences too.
Every item my friend picked
out from the rack was rejected for various odd reasons like “I think this can
break-in-transit”, ”Gawwd! not this. It ll look silly.”, “Umm..are you sure he
‘ll like it?”.So back went to the rack the cute double-heart photo-frame, a
soft toy, a nice perfume as well as a leather belt watch. After a
till-my-legs-would-break search of the mall, I also managed to pick out this
really Smart informal Shirt by Tommy Hilfiger for my fiancé along with a cute
personalized crystal with a picture of both of us. I was having a high-level
category of serious bout of doubts on whether my fiancé would like the checked
shirt I had just purchased.
Mom-in-law is supposed to be
the most important person after your marriage with whom you have to
compulsorily get along. Hunting for the perfect gift for my uber cool and
modern Sasu-maa was an uphill task. She was really finicky and choosy was also
a setback in the procedure of our hunt for that perfect gift. Finally, after a
lot of persuasion and some real hard looks by the shop-owners I managed to
settle for a smart and exclusive Guess Bag.
We were lucky enough not to
get thrown out of the shops where I did my best to extract all possible information
on what can be the ideal gift for your mother-in-law! Pleased with myself, I
returned home and started packing the gifts excitedly. But as I told you,
courier packing was not my cup of tea, so finally after repeated failed
attempts it was delegated to my household help. The courier was sent and I
waited with butterflies in my stomach for the review on my gifts. Now I
realized how authors, directors etc feel when their creation is launched to be
dissected in the full glare of the public eye.
The courier reached, gifts
were received, a polite thank you call came and lo behold! It was all over. I
was quite pleased with myself till I got married and started living with my
in-laws. Then I discovered to my utter dismay that my fiancé already had that
Tommy shirt in a different colour I had sent for him, my MIL was not into
carrying shoulder bags but she preferred hand clutched ones and my FIL also did
most of his work from home and that office-desk-accessory stayed in the
cardboard box container probably to be taken out for gifting purpose in the
future. Ahh!! How I wish Badhai coupons existed that time to save my face from
this tiresome and embarrassing episode. They could have used those coupons for online
shopping or maybe I could have gifted a spa experience coupon. It would have
made my first gifts to my in-laws so memorable and special.
