Mother and child – a most beautiful, selfless relationship. And how-much-ever the son / daughter ages, he/she still remains a child for mom. Circumstances sometimes strain all kinds of relationships, even blood relations as precious as mother and child, but time is the best healer, that irons out misunderstandings and brings back peace and harmony. Any effort put in to maintain the beauty of this pious relationship is less.
GIFTING YOUR MOM
Well, it could be her birthday or her anniversary or just that you are coming back from your tour abroad. Don’t forget to get something memorable for her.
My suggestions for gifts to moms/ ammas/ mammas/ aais/ ammi / Mummy / Maa/ and so on….:
- Draping in~
A most beautiful statement in Indian Fashion- probably the longest statement- 6 yards. Indian Handlooms from various states come out with a great variety of weaves- One such traditionally Indian Sari with matching blouse would make an excellent gift. For added convenience to mom, sneak out a blouse from her wardrobe in advance and get the new blouse stitched by giving the old one to the tailor for measurements, and also get the sari’s finishing done( Fall and beading work and net if its an expensive sari), so that mom can wear it immediately.
The budget could be anything from Rs.750 onwards. Monsoon times are always good for sari sales. Check out Kala Niketan at Marine Lines and a host of Sari shops in Dadar .(For all you guys there, Im sure your eager-to-please girl friends will do the job of helping you on this)
If you are in North India- its very fashionable to drape matching shawls casually on one shoulder, so shawls would be a good idea too, but I would not be able to say much on the selection and price.
- Music & Spirituality~
Most people get onto the spiritual track once they cross there 50s or so .(Few exceptions like myself…Karan etc .who are born spiritual;-)
You can get her a CD of Bhagawat Gita with the book. The CD can be played as a music CD, or even used interactively to learn the whole Gita. The Book gives meanings of all the lines. Similarly one can also give a copy of the Bible with bigger fonts, to make reading easier, or the Guru Granth, Koran, any holy books along with a cassettes of the same, like devotional songs by M.S.Subbulakshmi, Gurbani etc.
These are very soothing and they will surely appeal to mom.
The Gita CD and book is available for Rs.1000 or so. A set of 5 cassettes of the Gita is also available from the Chinmaya Mission for a reasonable cost. HMV’s 50 years popular bhajans is a wonderful gift to give. It is a compilation of the best bhajans from 1950 to 2000- Bhimsen Joshi to Jagjit Singh. Available in all leading music stores for around Rs.275/-
Moms who do * Japa * can also be given a wooden Maala of 108 beads, these Malas are available in crystal / beads / rudraksh in addition to wood. Rudraksh is most expensive and if you or any of your friends are going to Nepal, make sure you get one for her.
- Pottering around~
If mom loves spending time in the kitchen- you could consider gifting her a non stick cookware set- of 5-6 vessels, like a wok, fry pan, kadhai, small pan and tava. This helps cutting down on oil as she and dad grow older- a healthier way of life.Budget of Rs. 2000/-
Another lovely idea would be to make her a modern age mom-gift her a microwave oven and also a Tarla Dalal –Microwave cookbook( More about this-over to Prem), costing less than 200 Rs. Lots of info about Microwave ovens can be found on Mouthshut, but ideally around 22 Litres capacity with conduction-convection should be fine, Whirlpool would cost around 14 grand or so.
To add some color to her kitchen, you could gift her nice ceramics- bowls/ cup saucers/ mugs- these can be bought in advance from the handloom fairs that get held at Bandra reclamation grounds/ Cross Maidans etc. You will get lots of stuff for Rs.500, enough to fill a few shelves.
- Travel Bug
Mom must have told you sometime, while watching a serial or a travel show- wish I had a chance to go to this place, it could have been Pandharpur, or Haridwar or Darjeeling. Book a surprise tour for her and dad / or a friend who is available / or best you go along with her, taking care of all her conveniences! And watch the childlike happiness on her face. You don’t have to send her to Disney Land or Niagra Falls. The place could be a simple one, but your whole hearted attempts should be to please her, surprise her. The distance of the place from home could be directly proportional to the depth of your pocket. Budget anywhere from Rs.5000 onwards.
- Small valuable stones
Diamonds are still a woman’s best friend. Or even gold for that matter. All old timers love GOLD( I never liked gold – beginning to fall in love with platinum though) . You could gift her a diamond pendant / ear rings / gold bangles or a chain / or simply a gold watch. Remember, simplicity rules. The more sober the item, the more classier. If you don’t have the moolah for diamonds, bother not, even semi precious stone set in silver / gold look extremely elegant. And mom is sure to be pleased. Budget of Rs.10000 and above
These are just 5 suggestions, but the possibilities are endless, pets for an animal loving mom, a hoard of exotic plants from the nursery, VCDs of the movies of her favorite heros( Prem are you listening), or old time movies, tickets to the play she has been wanting to see since long, organizing a surprise get- together for her and her friends at the swanking restaurant nearby, perfumes for a fashion conscious mom, a CD player which she can hook on during her morning walks, that reminds me- a good pair of comfortable sport shoes for that morning walk again, those ceramic bathroom sets with soap dispenser, broom holder and brushes holder, a set of her favorite soaps, it doesn’t take too much money to buy most of these trinkets, but the feeling of being loved that mom gets is simply priceless, that too when given with a warm hug.
And yeah…next time you are going to meet her, don’t forget to call her and inform even if you are getting 10 minutes late. That bunch of flowers and those little words “Love you mom” will add the final touches.
Tomorrow(12 Aug) is my mom’s birthday! Praying for her health and happiness…..Adieu, Nan.
Wishing all you MS brothers a Very Happy Raksha Bandhan
Please comment if time permits …….
