Skip to main content

Gifts & Functions

I received an invitation for lunch on the occasion of House Warming celebration from a friend whom I have known for close to four decades. Hundred of times over the past half a century I have received invitations for variety of functions like Weddings, Birthdays, like on this occasion House Warmings etc. In the distant past, many of the invitations were from seniors like my parents' cousins or contemporaries who were performing functions like marriages of their children. A little later the list of most hosts were mainly my friends, contacts in my working life of my age group. In the recent past it's my contemporaries who are celebrating functions associated with their children and grandchildren.

Everyone of those invitations makes me remember what my father once told me about gifts at all such occasions. An invitee's first thought revolves around the selection of an appropriate gift - it's cost, if that will match the receiver's status, if it will match gifts from other invitees, if it will match the gifts you have received from that host on earlier occasions etc. It is important not to materialistically measure that love of the host for you. Match it with your affectionate presence and your best thoughts for the host. It is then that I realised that gifts only add a measurable value to the bond between you and the host which is actually immeasurable. It is important to remember that no gift, however valuable it is, can match the affection behind the invitation you have received. Gifts should not corrupt our affection for our hosts or invitees (if you the host) Hence I decided not to accept gifts or present gifts at any function. I am proudly practicing NO GIFTS policy for over 50 years. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pleasures & Perils of WhatsApp group

Initiating a WhatsApp group and then adding members with a message to a contact “I’ll add you to the group” is easy. But maintaining the group and making it productive has become a challenge. I felt honored when invited by my immediate senior in school to join  a WhatsApp group of Schoolmates in March-April, 2020. The group has a senior Banker, an Aero-Scientist, a Dentist, a senior Public Sector Administrator, a distinguished Poet, 2 medical practitioners, a Chartered Accountant, a horticulture scientist apart from me, a Pharma Sales Person. Interestingly, the group was put together by the daughter of the  Senior Banker. She wanted to present her father with a facility to recall and reminisce school days with his schoolmates. I am ever grateful to her for giving me a wonderful gift of connecting with old friends after decades of leaving the school. This is the latest WhatsApp group of which I became a member. I am also a participant in 2 groups of my relatives and have scores...
1 comment
Read more

My Unforgettable Business Associates

  I wish to recall memories of some of my dealers who were completely different and unique. In the pharmaceutical field, usually 3 tiers of dealers operate - state level Distributors, district level wholesalers called Stockists and finally retailers who dispense medicines to the patient. I am talking now about 3 such Stockists. P.Venkatapati Raju (P.V.Raju & Co): He was my stockist in Guntur in the 70's and early 80's. He was a highly educated man....a B.Com, B.L.,MBA. He was an upright person who never bribed anyone in drugs department and sales tax department. It is a record of sorts in those days. He used to keep his shop open between 8am-12pm & 3pm-7pm. No matter who (even the high and mighty officials of big MNCs) visited his shop, not for a minute after the closing times will he keep the shop doors open for anyone. In those days computers weren't there but his stock ledgers were always kept upto the minute to tally with the stocks on the shelf. He was a joy t...
2 comments
Read more

Name & what it means to you

"A person's name is to him or her the sweetest and most important sound in any language”  said Dale Carnegie who was an American writer and author of many self development books. He explains the importance of a person's name in his book How to Win Friends and Influence People. He explains that a person's name is the sweetest sound they can hear. In other words, people love to hear their own name. My name is Madhva muni and I am named after my maternal grandfather, Sri Madhvachar who while being very orthodox, was a highly successful lawyer of his time. I always felt proud of my name since it also is associated with one among the trinity of great Indian philosopher theologians, Sankara Ramanuja & Madhva, the chief proponent of the Dvaita school of Vedanta. Since the time I can remember, I have been facing a peculiar problem with my uncommon name.  When someone has to write or make a data entry of my name, invariably  made it as MADHAVA MUNI by inserting an A after M...
2 comments
Read more