Regifting…Are We Ready For It?

Holiday season is here !! No doubt each one in my family is happy, but along with the joy there comes this increased responsibility of buying gifts for our near and dear ones. When it comes to gifts, we all are spoiled for choice. Three P’s of Person, Price and Presentation, play their part well by pushing us to this spot where for a second everything seems ambiguous. The more the relationship matters, the more we worry about getting it right. No doubt, it becomes difficult yet exciting at the same time. The other day as I was cleaning my cupboard, my gaze fell upon some gift boxes kept to the back of the shelf. Wrapped in various shades of blue (sounds strange, but true) it was as if they were trying to break apart from the thick brown cubes. As my pad is home to three boys, mostly we end up getting gifts covered in blue paper. Due to my hectic work schedule they kept, lying in this warm and cozy corner of mine for long. The moment I touched them with my bare hands, my eyes widened and there was a sudden rush to open them there and then. I can’t be blamed for this, as it’s a habit which I carry since my childhood. When I was a kid, my eyes would twinkle the moment I saw a gift box. I never had the patience to look for scissor, as I had full faith on my hands who held the ability to tear apart any damn gift wrap. We never bothered to look into the name tag, only thing that mattered was, if the gift box has landed up in our pad then we have the birth right to open it. Today too I felt a similar urge to open these lifeless packets glowing in blue. When I was about to pounce on these, my hubby shouted “Hey Jigs! What are you doing? Let’s gift some of these this holiday". All of a sudden, I was taken aback…………. Regifting, is Sanjib serious? I gave him a blank stare to which he had a befitting reply “why not utilize some of these” then swallowing a lump in his throat he added “ I mean, the ones we hardly need can be regifted ”.Coming from the same school of thought, it was becoming increasingly difficult for me to digest Sanjib’s new notion. I swear if my Mom would have been there, she would have shouted at the top of her voice. We had never done that before. The thought itself was disturbing. In my home its considered derogatory to even think that way. Gifts are supposed to be synonymous with giver’s sentiment and emotion. The symbolic value is such that we could never imagine giving it to someone else. Various questions would cripple our thought process “what the presenter will feel? How can I do this? If the receiver comes to know about it, then what?…the list goes on and on. So even if my Mom received similar patterned saree from two people, she would happily stock it in her shelf one above the other, rather than gifting it to someone else. Today when Sanjib expressed his opinion, I instantly felt that his thought process has been triggered owing to the white elephant game at his office. White elephant game definitely gives us a chance to get rid of that single, burdensome item of ours which we hardly need. In India we may not be playing it often, but in US it’s an integral part of Christmas festivities. The item gets to travel finally landing in hands of those who value its worth. This made me wonder “Is Regifting really a good idea? " Definitely the plus outweighs the risks. Not only it saves our money but will also help in declutter. Though its important to keep a check on the person to whom we are giving the item. If the person genuinely loves these kinds of stuff, then regifting does make sense. The rule of thumb is to remember the name on the gift tag, else there are chances of the present getting back to its original giver, we don’t want that. The stuff needs to be unused, clean and in the original packaging. However, it goes without saying that we need to check the giver’s sentiment too while taking such a step. Regifting may initially sound rude and unpleasant but on a serious note it’s the most economical, thoughtful and creative method of bestowing gifts on our loved ones. It comes as a breather in our prosaic society which pioneers this vicious circle of giving and receiving presents more as part of custom than gratitude or recognition.