Spectator by Seema Goswami: The presents of mind
Skip the baubles, tacky jumpers and usual cakes this year. Instead, treat your loved ones to experiences they’ll never forget
The older I grow, the more disenchanted I become with possessions. The truth is that like most others of my age, I have accumulated so much stuff over the decades, that I have quite lost the taste for buying anything else. So, when it comes to birthdays and anniversaries, my only request to my family and friends is not to buy me any more stuff but to gift me experiences that they know I would enjoy.
It is in that spirit that I come to you today with advice on what to buy your loved ones for Christmas, which is right around the corner. Steer clear of shiny baubles, bad-taste jumpers, or endless varieties of cakes and pastries. Instead, put your thinking caps on and come up with experiences that you can treat your friends and family to as a Christmas surprise.
To get you going, here are some ideas, off the top of my head:
Christmas Eve dinner or Christmas Day lunch can sometimes be the most traumatic thing about the festival. Catering to a large number of individuals with varying tastes is not for the faint of heart. So, why not take the sting out of this enterprise for your chosen recipient by booking the services of a young chef (or catering service), who can come and complete this task for them in their own kitchen? This way, the host/hostess can truly enter into the Christmas spirit thanks to your genius gift idea.
Gifting someone a spa certificate or a gift card to a bookshop is all very well, but why not push the boat out this Christmas? If your cousin is interested in food, gift her a guided food walk through the streets of Old Delhi. If your bestie is into drama or music, buy him tickets for a play you think he will enjoy or book him into a musical performance by one of the many wonderful Christmas choirs who perform around this time. If you are willing to break the bank, you may even be able to organise a performance for your musically inclined friends in the privacy of their homes (while the chef you booked cooks up a delicious meal).
If you live in Delhi, the odds are that there are innumerable monuments you have never seen in the city because you keep thinking you will get around to visiting them one day. Don’t let your friends or family members procrastinate on this score any longer. Book them guided tours with well-versed guides to the places they have never been. If you are feeling particularly generous, pack them an exciting picnic basket to take along. They are guaranteed to have the best time, ever.
The best experience you can offer parents of young children is, of course, the gift of time together. So, offer to take the kids off their hands for an afternoon or an evening so that they can spend some quality time together, while you have a blast with the young ones, secure in the knowledge that at the end of the day, you can hand them right back!
