Gifting Week

The Hindu calendar is looking colourful, marking almost every other day with auspicious times and events. All the households are gearing up for festivities. Families get together. Houses get a clean up and sometimes makeover. Shopping is on the cards for everyone and this is the hardest part of the season.

It is easy to pick something up for the immediate family who you live with because you know what they would like to have. Extended families also manage to get decent presents after a few phone calls are made from the lady of the house to ladies of other houses. What about the support system of the house?

We all know that the support system of the house means the team of maids, chauffeurs and security staff. Without them many families can’t imagine living a peaceful life, let alone festival rush. I know this couple, the lady works as a maid and her husband works as a cook. They start their day at 6 in the morning going to houses to clean and cook for the families so that they can do their daily activities uninterrupted. They work till 6 in the evening. Their kids have gotten used to being at home all the time as their parents are home only on Sundays when they are busy cooking and cleaning for their own house. The parents work as hard as they can so that they can give their children a life they haven’t got for themselves. All they pray is that their children be accepted in the society as normal children. They don’t want to be standing outside a crowd. They dream of simple things like their children speaking and reading English. Their wants and desires are a little more than their needs. It’s not too much to ask God.

If we can take their services all through the year, surely we can think of doing something for them once a year. Did you tell yourself that you will buy them a saree for female staff, shirt for the male help along with a box of sweets and some cash as Diwali bonus? Have you given a thought that maybe saree and sweets is not what they need? It takes months and lots of money to get a blouse stitched for the saree. (That’s a separate story altogether)

Maybe you have the heart to do something different for them this year? For the same budget that you have kept aside for the staff, if you can gift them something they really need? Here are some simple gifting ideas:

1. Entry tickets to local water parks/amusement parks. ( It would be their first time ever. Help them with the rules of the park)
2. Day pass to a nearby tree park with a picnic basket. (They need some time with the family too)
3. Movie tickets for the family with a popcorn tub.(they would never think of going to Cineplex)
4. Enroll their children in one of the duserra holiday camps around. (The children can learn to blend in with other children)
5. A mattress/quilt/electronic mixer they might have been looking for. (There are such amazing deals on #amazon)

And please give them a day off to spend with their children.

If you have more innovative gifting ideas, please leave a comment and tag people who could use these ideas. Let’s bring about positive changes for a happy world.