Gifts - A token of Love

With my 33rd birthday round the corner, I feel nostalgic as I look back at those fond memories of my life. I am thankful to God, for giving me such wonderful moments in my life to look back at, and cherish. I am grateful to Almighty for giving me so much of love and affection from people around me. People who care for me, who have made me what I am and who will always be with me no matter where i am.

I always looked forward to my birthdays, ever since i remember. Birthdays were special, they still are. And one of the reasons were the gifts i would get on my birthdays. I believe in "age is just a number" theorem, but as this number increased, the number of gifts i received on my birthday, drastically decreased. But whatever it is, gifts are, and will always be special to me. I love to give and receive gifts. For me, gifts are token of love. They are special. They remind you that the person thought about you when he/she got the gift for you. For me, giving gifts, is showing that you care. You hae thought about that person, when you decided to give him the gift. You have spent time deciding what to give according to his likes/dislikes. In short, this activity is done with utmost care, passion, and pure love for the person concerned.

Each and every gift that i receive from people around are special. No matter what it is. No matter whether they serve me any purpose, no matter whether i like or dislike the material, they are special. I mean, when it is a gift it doesnt matter what it is, or how it is. It is special, because of the thought behind it; it is special because it is a token of love.

Here is a list of all those gifts which have been very very special to me. Though i still maintain, all gifts are special (this punch line is to draw more and more gifts towards me on this birthday :-))

1. My first red tri-cycle given to me by my Baba when I was 3 years old. I still remember i was absolutely thrilled and would go round and round our small flat on it. - Thank you Baba for that wonderful gift.

2. Dadu (our neighbor, actually, but he is one person responsible for whatever i am today. I dont miss not having my own grand fathers around as a child, as God compensated their loss with this man, who loved me more than anyone else and took care of me just as my own grandfathers would have done. God, bless his soul, I miss you Dadu) would give me candys every evening, and he would hide them all over their flat. And my evening exercise would be to look for those candys. Oh Dadu, I never even bothered to thank you those days, as for me it was my birthright to get those candys. If you are listening, I will never forget those candys ever in my life. thank you so much, you used to make my evenings special.

3. Dida (Dadu's wife, and my "souten" as Dadu used to call me "choto bou" :-)) would make the best "loochie and aloobhaja" and treat me on special days like when i behaved myself and didnt cause much nuisance around (and believe me, they were indeed special and rare days). I shall never forget "Dida r haather loochie aloobhaja" ever in my life. Dida, I miss that more than ever, and you are always in my thought. Your memories always bring a smile on my face, though I love Dadu more :-). Thank you for those wonderful "pet poojo" as Dadu used to call them.

4. Thank you Maa for my first gala birthday celebration on my 5th birthday. Am thanking you because now i realise how tough it had been for you to cook all those delicacies for atleast 60 kids I invited without even letting you know. I dont know how you managed, but I know it was tough for you. I remember when you had asked me how many guests would be there, i had told you about 10-15. But actually i invited everybody i came across. And i know many more than 15-20 guests had turned out that evening. Thank you Maa, for making that evening special for me by going through all the trouble of managing the back-end!

5. Thank you Sejo jethu for my first scooter ride. Oh i was so thrilled standing in the front while you were driving - it felt as if i owned the road. It was special Sejo jethu, and i amy not have thanked you then, but i thank you now. i miss u.

6. I dont remember who all, but thanks to all of you who gifted me chocolates now and then, more so, who did when I was a kid. Because those days, getting a bar of Diary Milk, was a luxury. So Baba, Boro Jethu, Noa jethu (these people I remember) and all other jethus and kaku s, thank you so much for gifting me chocolates. I relished having them.

7. Thank you Didibhaimashi, for gifting me the best dress every Durga Puja. You probably have no idea, but i used to wait the enitre year for that day when you and i would either go to Gariahat or new market to buy my Puja Dress, and the dress you would give me, would always be the best of the lot. I love you for pampering me so much and thank you for all the lovely stitched cardigans and pull overs and sweaters that you would give to to wear and flaunt them. They made me look so good, and feel so proud.

8. One of my favorite teachers of my school, Anupama Ma'am, used to give me a card and chocolates on Teacher's Day. Ma'am, wherever you are, today I want to thank you for those lovely gifts every year. I used to feel so special that on Teacher's day when we students used to give you all cards and gifts, you used to return mine with so much of love and affection. I still have your cards (chocolates ofcourse, i ate them) and they are indeed very special and will always be.

9. All the guys of our class would give us Pen on Rakshabandhan day, when we would tie them rakhis and have feast (ofcourse our mothers would take all the trouble) during the recess. I shall never forget those Rakshabandhans of my life, and the fun we used to have. And those Pens, guys - they are very very special.

10. I thank Enasree, Rajdeep, Udayan and Ayan for always pampering me with chocolates. They being my friend, and same age as i am, always spent their pocket money on my chocolates, whenever I would be having cash crunch. I remember Enasree buying Cadbury's Crunch for me, when she didnt like it, which meant i didnt even have to give her any share. I remember Rajdeep buying me Cadbury's break on our way to John Sir's coaching almost every day. I thank you all, for your love and affection towards me and those lovely gifts you have given me over the years.

11. I thank Udayan for gifting me a purse which I had seen in a particular shop that i took an immediate liking to. As usual, I couldnt afford it then, and the next day he gave me that - it was such a wonderful surprise, Udayan. Thank you so much for that purse. You probably may not even remember this, but i do, and I thank God for giving me such wonderful friends like you. Please get well soon.

12. Thanks to Piktu for gifting me "Coco Chanel" perfume which was my first international perfume that i owned. It really made me feel special though you still keep on asking me how i could finish it within 3 months, let me confess honestly, I had no idea then, that the perfume was so expensive. If i knew, i wouldnt have used it also. But whatever it is, thanks to you, I got the privilege of using "Coco Chanel" for the first time in my life.

13. Thanks to the one who has gifted me some really nice books, books that i shall treasure forever.

Last but not the least, all the gifts i have received, and will ever receive from the two person I love the most, I thank them for just being there in my life. Thanks to God, for my daughter, without whom i am nothing, and the man i love, with whom I am everything that i am. My daughter's kisses are special, the cards she makes me are special, the chocolates she sacrifices for me are special, the shares of her ice creams are special.

Like i said, gifts are always special. More so, if you get them from the ones you love.