Gift of the Magi

A few months back my best friend and her little sister came over to spend the weekend with me. Every time they come home, we spend a majority of time doing girly stuff like baking, cooking, watching movies, giving each other home facials, pedicure and of course lots and lots of conversations. So that weekend while we had our faces masked and hair packed with home spa treatments, I asked her on what parameters would she measure the value of a gift she receives from someone. Would it be with the Price: expensive vs inexpensive; Person: close friend vs acquaintance; Longevity of the gift: long term (like watches, bags...) vs short term (like a box of chocolates, a bouquet of flowers…). She immediately said, “The value of a gift is what an individual attaches to it. It cannot be measured using any scale. It all depends on how much worth the person wants to attach to the gift”.

There might be a million reasons why someone doesn’t value a very expensive gift and a very silly reason why the same person would find a small handwritten note on a paper ripped off the back of a notebook, precious and priceless. It all depends on the individual. So after this conversation with her ended, I thought I should one day draw together all the gifts I have received to understand the value I attach to these gifts. I never really got to do this until yesterday.

I strongly recommend Shopping and Rigorous Room Cleaning as the best stress-busters especially if you’ve been a victim of constant annoyance and endless efforts to feel worthless. BLISS is the word used to describe the feeling you have when you bring home those new pair of Aldo Shoes and H&M denims or the sight of the sparkling room with a neatly arranged wardrobe. This month had been pretty stiff on my wallet so I decided to use the other option this weekend. While I was arranging my cupboard I found this huge bag filled with all sorts of stuff, from papers to greeting cards to worn out gift wrapping tinsel foils. I began sorting out the collection and while I was at it I started reading the greeting cards I had received from friends and family. Some cards had small notes scribbled on it and a few had letters inside them.

I began arranging them on the floor after I read every greeting card and note. Half way through I thought I should have categorized the cards since they were so many from friends and family for Birthdays, Christmas wishes from Chris-moms and Chris-children, Farewell cards I had received in the final year of school and college, Friendship Day bands and greetings. I was also surprised to see a few Get Well Soon cards that I was thinking if my absence in school meant so much to that friend.

When I finally finished arranging them this is what my floor looked like.

I had enough to start an Archies Gift Gallery. I was pretty stunned with what I’ve been treasuring for more than a decade. Some cards were handmade and so beautiful. Looking at the amazing craft work done on it made me realize how much I meant to the person who gave it to me to take the time and the effort to make something like that. These days we hardly write to anyone let alone hand-make stuff for them. I am strongly convinced that if there is someone who cares to write a small note to you today amidst all the hustle and bustle, be certain that you mean the world to them.

Some of them were musical cards that were so old and drained that it wouldn’t chime anymore when opened. Opening those envelopes that had “OPEN WITH A SMILE” written along the flap of the cover reminded me of all the sweet things we did to make the gift appealing and impressive. I began wondering why people don’t give such cards anymore. These amazing things were first replaced by e-greetings and then Facebook wishes and now it’s a sms/whatsapp followed by   a Cake with candles and party balloons emoticon. 

I spent the entire morning reading every card and every note, reminiscing about every friendship I made along the way. Some friendships don’t even exist now. Some friends hadn’t even crossed my mind until today after seeing their signatures at the end of the greeting.

 Some friends have even finished their journey of life on earth and moved on to the “better land”. It was such an emotional yet a very fulfilling day to spend down memory lane. 
I realized that the best medicine one can give oneself during real trying and draining moments is a jog down memory lane. Rummage all that junk you have stored in the attic or in the barn. Read all those lovely things people have said about you.

If you haven’t had the habit of collecting greeting cards and letters like me, I’m pretty sure you have your Autograph diaries or Year books. If I said Shopping and Cleaning is the best way to de-stress, I stand corrected.  

 I also realized that the best way to tell a person you care and acknowledge their presence in your life is by writing them a note/letter. Appreciate people and tell them how much their existence means to you. We live in a very difficult world. Very rarely we find encouraging and supportive people. And in depressing times, it’s really heart-warming to read a note from someone who has penned down your worth and the difference you made in their lives. 


Knowing that your presence has impacted them and helped them even in the tiniest way would not only help greatly, but that gift would have just upped its value to a million bucks. 

My room and wardrobe is filled with gifts people have given me. I attach myself greatly to every gift, big or small. Likewise I also believe in giving good gifts. I would also suggest to attach a small note alongside the gift. You never know when the person would need those few words of encouragement. 

When they need it most, what if u’re NOT a phone call / a drive away ?

Stay Blessed !

Silver lessons

Just because God is BIG, it does not limit Him from speaking to us tiny people, in a way we can’t understand. It just awes me how He sometimes teaches life's BIG lessons using small things. We also tend to forget the lesson soon and He doesn't mind teaching the same lesson all over again until we learn it right. Don’t be surprised if He uses the same props as well to demonstrate the very same lesson. One thing we need to know here is that He never gives up on us. Even if it means to go over the same things, He is a teacher who never leaves the classroom with unfinished topics.

Class 1.

6 yrs back a friend gifted me a Silver Jewellery set for my birthday. It was the most beautiful set with small deep purple stones. One day when I wore a purple salwar I decided to wear that set. While I was clipping the studs to my ear holes one of the studs slipped off my hand and fell down. I bet I have never spent so much time searching for anything but on that stud that slipped from my hand. I couldn’t find it. So I told the cleaning lady to watch out for a small shiny thing with a purple stone while sweeping that day and left. No trace of that stud. It was like the stud just flew (not fell) outta my hand into the thin air. I came to terms with myself and accepted that I lost the nice gift and bought another pair so I cud use the set again. A few weeks back (6 years later) I made time to clean my accessories junk and make way for some new stuff that's trending. I have cleaned and arranged my collection a million times before this, in case u’re thinking I clean only once in 6 yrs. And while I was
trashing all the clutter, to my shock I found that lost stud that flew outta my hand stuck in a corner of my dressing table drawer. I was so happy that I could totally relate to the "joy effect" a lost n' found sheep could have on its shepherd.

Lesson learnt: Clean the room properly to find missing things sooner.


Class 2.

Another friend gave me this lovely silver jewellery set with small maroon stones on it for my birthday last year. I must say that of all my collections its one set that has received the most compliments so far. So yesterday evening I had plans to watch The Wolverine with my cousins and I wore this set with my matching top. I drove to the theatre and crossed the checking zone and went towards to food counter to decide what snack to buy. And one of the cousins said, "Hey akka thats a lovely chain u r wearing". I had this "oh-I-get-this-compliment-everytime" look on my face and pushed my hair behind to show off the studs as well. And suddenly she screamed, "Akka only one stud is there". I kept rubbing my earlobes and felt no presence of a stud. I might have also dug my ear holes just to make sure it didn’t fall inside. Walked all the way back to the parking lot and saw no trace of any small silver shining thing. I was deeply upset and removed the other stud and kept it inside and thought I should never be gifted anything nice until I learn to how to keep it carefully.

We’ve all been in such situations at some point in life. We lose things. We make a mess. We fail to be responsible with things that’s entrusted to us. These things sometimes come in the form of Talents, Skills, Gifts, Relationships, Trust, Peace, Money so on and so forth. We constantly plead for mending and fixing of all our flops and fails. I have personally been such a superstar at messing up and right now I am totally convinced that I can never do anything right and if there is anything I can do right, is MESSING UP.

The movie was awesome. Hugh Jackman was awesome. We came home and I kept my single stud and chain back into the case and slept off. While I was lying on the bed I was thinking how awesome it would be to find the missing stud in 6 years when I clean my junk again like how I found the purple one 6 years later. I woke up the next day and went to the car to search for the stud in the daylight just in case it had fallen under the car seats and I didn’t see well because I didn’t have enough lights the previous night. No luck. Came back to get ready for work. I opened the jewel box again to see the lonely stud and to my surprise I saw 2 studs. I thought, “Phew ! Talk about mind tricks or visual tricks or whatever a full action packed, visual effects filled superhero movie can cause”. And no, I wasn’t hallucinating. The box did have the 2 studs.  I was so happy and overwhelmed that I was singing, “I once was lost, but now I’m found…was blind but now I see…” The Holy Ghost sure knows how to make your heart rejoice with thanksgiving. Only this time, it didn’t take 6 years.

The only logical explanation to this is that I wore only one ear stud and forgot to put the other one while dressing up. But for a woman who spends hours in front of the mirror decking up before leaving out, I just find this an awful explanation. I have been doing this for 26 years now and I just cannot accept forgetfulness as an ideal explanation to this. But this is not about the missing stud or my failing memory. It’s about the lesson I learnt.

Lessons learnt: 

1. What God has intended you to have, nobody can take it away. Even if you mess up and lose it, He is a God who restores. All what you lost, all what you missed, all what you messed up with, He is able to restore.
2. Sometimes it takes time. It takes so long that you’d almost convince yourself that it’s never gonna come around. Like how I replaced my lost purple stone stud with another pair. Trust Him. He will show up. He is an on-time God. He is never late or early.
3. Sometimes you might be looking for things in the wrong places. Like how I was looking in the car, under the bed, in the parking lot, inside my ear holes etc…whereas it was in my room, in my jewellery case/drawer all the while. Pray and ask God to open your eyes and help you see things clearly. Pray that when He leads you to the things He has planned for you, you would be able to see it and not be blinded or in my case, looking in the wrong places.
4. Miracles can happen if you believe. God loves performing miracles. All He needs is your FAITH. Hope and believe for the best things. I didn’t have any faith that I would get my stud back. But I hoped to find it atleast after 6 years. I am thankful God decided to work with the next best thing I could provide Him for a miracle – HOPE.
5. And finally, we are just humans made of clay and dust. We will mess up and fail time and again. We will disappoint not just people around us, but our own selves. He is God and we are not. All we need to do is just hold on to Him. Tell Him our weakness and ask for His help. He will run to our rescue. When God Ran by Philips Craig and Dean is a song that greatly ministered to me recently. Everytime I listen to this song and try to sing along and worship, I only end up sobbing and choking throughout the song.

“He ran to me,

He took me in His arms,

Held my head to His chest,

Said “My son’s  come home again !”

Lifted my face,

Wiped the tears from my eyes,

With forgiveness in His voice, He said,

“Son, do you know I still love you ?”

Stay Blessed !