When mom says, “I love to shop,” she means strictly for herself, of course.
The woman has no trouble spending her time and dad’s hard-earned money on herself. But when it comes to finding the perfect present for anybody above the age of five, mom is not, shall we say … gifted.
The last few days have seen her standing in the middle of the mall with a deer caught in the headlights look, while shoppers scurry purposefully around her like ants on a picnic table.
The frown lines on her forehead threaten to run into deep fissures as she contemplates a retail world replete with a million choices - not one of them aimed at her sari-clad, bindi-wearing, makeup-eschewing beautiful mother.
“Satin thong for $19.95? Amma would have a heart attack,” she thinks, wisely walking away from a racy number as wide as her shoe laces.
“Apple cinnamon candles from Bombay? Um … I think they have a generator back home now.”
“Spa certificate for a massage? But she won’t relax and take her bindi and mangalsutra off.”
“$99.95 knife from Henckels? Amma will never even unwrap because of that story in the newspaper where the trusted servant of 15 years stabbed the homeowner with a kitchen knife.”
“Cashmere socks in pink, blue and yellow? She’s sure to say, ‘Light color aa?’”
On any other occasion mom would not have fretted over gifts, preferring to give nothing over something that she knows will never be used and will languish in the trusty Godrej for another generation.
But the conspicuous Christmas tree in the living room at this time of year is just begging to be surrounded by gifts in a few days.
Grandpa, thankfully, wears Western clothes, but there are only so many cotton shirts in dull colors a man can possess.
It’s clear mom needs a little help in the imagination department, so indulge her, won’t you?
What would you give two special people who say they only want you to be happy?
Friday, December 21, 2007
Holiday wishlist
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20 comments:
hmmm, how about a vonage phone connection? - so she can call you at any time of the day and you can be happy hearing her?
o wait, you said you had to be happy right? Never mind then.
A MP3-alarm clock. Load it up with Venkatesware Subrapatham by M.S. Subbulakshmi. Pious, and indulgent. Can't miss.
How about one of those vegetable choppers from Bed, Bath & Beyond? The ones that you place half an onion in and then do a karate chop over it and it produces beautifully cut, even sized pieces.
My mom loves creams and lotions. So I always get her stuff from Bath & Body Works.
terri:
ask mom to buy herself a turkish towel, a turkish lotion, aome turkish candy, a turkish ... i mean, anything that is turkish but falls short of a ... well, this blog is genius-rated, so i will let your readers run with their imaginations.
mom will be happy, dad will - by inference - be happy. grandma - obviously, based on quotes provided - will be happy too.
merry christmas!
lak:
in the true world, a photo frame (uses mp3 for photos that plays the music too) with or w/o alarm clock feature would work perfectly methinks.
- s.b.
portable dvd-player with senthil and vivek comedy cds.
Rads, :) :) :)
They can already see me on the Webcam and comment on how wan I look.
Lak, in the last 60+ years, they’ve only relied on their body clocks to awake. Besides, they don’t have a bedside table because all extra space in the room is taken up by the Godrej.
Chakli, they already have a chopper and are waiting to unload it on me. Plus, there’s a mini Bath & Body Works at home.
s.b., between rads and me, that Turkish would be stretched pretty thin. And no electronic stuff that needs to be plugged in, please. It’s boring enough wandering around in the men’s clothing aisle, now you want me to go to the electronic section as well?
alpha, they already have one.
Thank you all for your suggestions. Did I mention they have three Godrejs to hold all the stuff they possess but never use?
Cashmere sweater/shawl? A watch?
buy stuff for yourself and tell them how happy its made you:-)
if they go for romantic walks together in India, you could give them a pedometer.. they wear this thing like a watch and it tells them how much they walked !
for some reason, the older generation occupies their time with counting time..
I see now that my parents are obsessed with the names of the medicines they take.. just like my grand parents when they hit 70.. they also seem to count how long it takes to go from one location to another, the cube root of the derivative of the number of great grandkids that uncle Suppuni has etc..
Pedometer.. cant go wrong with it (personal experience).
Home blood sugar tester, blood pressure tester.. another big hit!
:)
one press button umbrella that opens and CLOSES with the button .. even bigger hit with grandpa.. he must have shown it to every auto driver in chennai.. Look, my grandson got me this thing with which I get into the auto without getting drenched trying to close the umbrella!!
more tips will follow by email..
portrait pics of the grandkids..grandparents generally love those
anon, can you believe it they told me to stop mailing portraits? "No room to display, just e-mail them," they said. They now look at the screensaver everyday.
sundar, I like the pedometer idea. Grandma wouldn't be able to tuck it into her salwar kameez, though. And you have more tips? Why don't you make it a post?
deepa, the space under the tree would still be bare.
muser, cashmere, pashmina, angora. Grandma’s shawl collection almost rivals her saris.
terri:
"Chakli, they already have a chopper and are waiting to unload it on me."
i somehow missed chakli's comment and levitated (or propelled myself vertically) to conclusions. ;-) dad has enough choppers and doesn't need another one, i presume!
"s.b., between rads and me, that Turkish would be stretched pretty thin."
if the turkish penny were made of copper, i would be happy to reword the old joke about how the copper wire was invented.
"Did I mention they have three Godrejs to hold all the stuff they possess but never use?"
not even close to folks in the usa, who have three-car garages full of stuff that is never used ;-).
oh, how about keys for a fourth godrej, or ... getting anu to write a few "i love you" letters (to the grandparents, of course)?
"An excellent, excellent movie, marred only be repeated ..."
i am yet to watch this movie which, considering how many movies i watch, is par for the course. but ... didn't you have any issues with its transliterated spelling?
my tamil sangam buddies (aka, hindi illiterates) produce more angst in me than i can bear by pronouncing "kum" as the "kum" in "kumkum"!!
pssst ... did mom live in bombay before coming over? i don't recall you ever providing that little detail.
sundar:
"more tips will follow by email.."
if terri's comment section is not big enough (can that ever be true?) or if those gifts are 'unrated' (as if that should deter anyone!), could you please put up the complete list on your own blog? among others, i could use the list myself sometime in the future.
"Why don't you make it a post?"
whoops! terri beat me to it!
- s.b.
s.b., this comment section is pathetic. Only you can inflate anybody's comment box until it's out of control.
Are you from Mumbai too?
I loved Cheeni Kum. It's one of the better Hindi movies made, even if I couldn't identify with a single character.
Regarding gifts, I'm still waiting for a bulb to go off in my head.
the post is out!
still lot of fine details left out.. but for what it is worth, I put in a top ten list..
:)
Terri, I can relate to grandparents. When relatives and friends in the US ask me what they can get me "from there", I am totally stumped. I mean..apart from a " few" goodies, most of which won't withstand the journey, I can't honestly think of anything. And the above few things I want are never considered "gifts" worth "gifting" ! It HAS to be an ipod or an mp3 player or perfumes (my husband would not come within a mile of me if I wear even talcum powder without sneezing) !Sheesh !! :)
sundar, thanks for responding. Great list.
lakshmi, I know what to get you now. Good! I don't have to think.
A set of Yves St. Laurant perfume and lotion "Opium" [Gramma here specifically wanted that, though not for Christmas]
A flashlight from Sharper Image that one can crank to charge and that ALSO has the option of being run from battery power so one doesn't get cranky cranking the flashlight :) Just perfect for tech-savvy and tech-happy granpa!
We were also looking for a digital picture frame for granpa but ALL stores had run out of them. Taught us a lesson that had something to do with last-minute gift shopping :P
terrI:
i wrote on sundar's but forgot to add here too - how about a photobook?
- s.b.
terri:
"Are you from Mumbai too?"
i forgot to respond to this one (that 'Aye, kya bolti tu' post reminded me) - i was there for four years, back when it was still bombay.
- s.b.
s.b., it sounds as though the photobook is an album with words, sort of like a scrapbook? Let me know how the hard copy turns out.
And you're more of a Mumbaiker than I am. I've spent a total of four days there, I think.
gtn, that flashlight can be used in India, right? Got to Google it before I see them next.
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