Mar 17, 2008

Minna-san, Okurimono ga suki desuka?*

Japanese to English Translation: All of you, do you like gifts?* (That, btw, is a dual purpose title. One, to show off my Japanese proficiency and Two, to increase curiosity in the post. Smart, I know)

*I know I do. I LOVE gifts - both giving and getting. I know it's the thought that matters and all. I totallllllllyy agree. I don't get sad if I don't get a gift. But I'm super happy/ elated/ jubilant/ springy/upbeat....(you get the drift) when I do get a gift. And I truly consider myself blessed in that respect. Cuz I have some of the BESTEST people in the Whole Wide World around me!
See, it goes like this. During my engineering, my parents were abroad => cash inflow was pretty good. That was probably the time when I gave the most. After that, I went on to do my MBA. At that time, most of my engg friends had gotten into TCS/CTS/Infosys/some IT Company. And Dolz was also earning top-notch. So, I was the pampered friend/baby-sister. Birthdays meant a million gifts. I'd get every single thing I wanted. Mum was absolutely disgusted at the way I used to squeal with delight at the gifts and she used to remind me that I have to also give in return. But my friends never let me. "You're not earning yet", they'd say.

And then after MBA, I waited 4 months to get a job. By then the engg set was well settled and the MBA ones started working. So I was pampered again. Then when I did get a job, I got one which paid me peanuts. I couldn't even meet my own auto needs from Mylapore to Adyar and again they'd say, "C'mon, you don't have to spend. When you get a better job, you can get us something". I've received gifts ranging from: Clothes to Cellphones to Ipods to Customized-Calendars-with-my-Pics-all-over to Bags to Shoes to Watches to Books to Flowers to Cakes to Chocolates to Make-overs to Jewellery to.....!!! And now, finally, I have a good, decent paying job. And it's time I start giving! Trust me , it isn't easy. It requires sooooo much of thought!

I cherish each and every one of those gifts. I even save the wrappers and the tiny 'Best Wishes' cards that come along with them. I've got every single card I've received since I was a kid. But one of my most recentest gifts is definitely one of my most bestest gifts. Totallyyyyy unexpected. It was given by my Pp. My lil bro baby, the sweetest, cutest, nuttiest person I've met. Whom I love oh-so-much and whose smile is just to-die for! All of 18 years and full of fun and spunk!I simply cannot imagine an hour without this lil hunk, forget a day. When I opened the gift he handed me, I just sat there, not saying a word cuz, for once, I didn't have anything to say!I was speechless. Stunned into silence! (For those of you who know me personally, that is a pretty impossible task) Din't know whether to laugh or cry, to jump in joy or run outta there and show it to everyone I know!He designed a CD for me. Like, put in a few of my ultimate fav songs, designed the front and back AND got it printed on the CD. My FIRST Customized CD. And he addressed it to -"The Best Sis in the Whole World!"And he did it for ME. *sniff* While I get down to some crying and nose-blowing, you guyz can check it out:




Beautiful huh? Pp, Muah! Love you alwayz kiddoooooo!!!!

Next is by Ruby. Ok, to get into the history behind this, I must tell you I'm totally not a gadget person. Cellphones are solely for 'communication' purposes and I find absolutely no joy in wasting money on a new phone. My friends have tried over and over again to get me to change my phone. I had a 3310 till a year back when a friend gifted me another. That stopped working and I've been using my sisz throw away 6600 ever since, which was in a deplorable condition when I received it and I've managed to damage it even further. It was silver earlier. Now black. It didn't have the keys 'enter' and 'a,b,c' and so i had to use my nails to get inside and type it out. I didn't even find it necessary to change the panel! And so, Ruby dearest decided to do the honours. Gifted me a whole new panel, with a new keypad, a new battery AND a memory card (which is from Satti too). My folks actually thought I got myself a new phone! And me, being the bitch I am, have been cribbing that the 'new-look' for the phone isn't me. And that the phone isn't quite the same now! I know I'm a pain! Rubyyyy, I LOVE it. And I LOVE you! Thanks really, really, reallyyyyy!!! Don't have a snap of it. But it looks super sexy. Totally new.

Don't you think I really am blessed to have these people?

*sniff* There I go again! *sniff*

P.S-Update: It is NOT my birthday. I'm a Cancerian and hence, my birthday is in July! And if my Birthday was coming, the countdown would've started 2 months in advance! :D These are just chumma gifts, which is what makes them a lot more special-er :)

27 comments:

Sairekha said...

Hehehe.. I like gifts a lot too..:) Only they come when I least anticipate them:)
I hope you've linked PP and Ruby to this post... :)

--xh-- said...

yeah - i agree with you.,. i love giving gifts and getting them - in that order :-D i love to watch the face of a person whn i give an unexpected gift...that is teh most precious thing.. itz not teh gift which matters, but the thought behind it. the gift ur bro gave u - itz really very sweet :-D
once i got a similar one - it was a casset, and the girl who gifetd it to me - one of my bestest friend - poor thing went to three shops to get all my fav songs recorded.

u r really blessed to hv lot of sweet ppl around you, Preeti san :)

SK said...

Hey,
Is it your birthday? If so, budday wishes :--)

Anonymous said...

June thaanae di won Budday? :-/

KP said...

nice to see u have gr8 friends and family...:). Happy bday......:)

Keshi said...

yes ur very lucky :)

I like gifts too..especially hand-made ones..and self-recorded CDs etc.

nice ones here.


Keshi.

rantravereflect/ jane said...

yehhhh babeeee.. now i know the sequence wrt the card!!!!

yehh giftin peeple is an amazing thing,i wish i were more into the whole thing, sadly i'm not!i mean i do pool in wen giftin sumone, but i hardly do it as a gesture frm ma side! i guess i shud change, but then again, if i gifted sumone, they'd prob faint!


BAHHHHHH :(
i can only say tat i can only give ya all ma luv!!
(n i know tatz a corny line..)

Unknown said...

Aww, that CD was so cute and touching! :) And the cover was lovely.
I love getting gifts too. This post reminded me how I haven't received a single gift in aeons now. And today, my best friend told me that she's thinking of sending me a Happy Tree Friends DVD on my birthday, some months from now *makes a sour face*. Okay, you can't be picky about gifts and maybe she was just kidding but still, Happy Tree Friends? :-/ I'm going to write a long email asking for personalised gifts now. Hmph.
By the way, I reckon 'Love Will Keep Us Alive' is among the best Eagles songs. It's just too overshadowed by Hotel California.

Unknown said...

Oooh, and I forgot to ask it earlier. You're learning Japanese? :D How hard is it? And how many nasal sounds do you have to make per word? :P

Ekta said...

oh wah!
Ur a lucky gal..being loaded with gifts all the time!!
I dont mind giving gifts..but I always have a problem thinking about the gift..in a nutshell if someone has to get a gift from me they need to tell me exactly what they want!

Preeti said...

@ziah: Least anticipated gifts r certainly the best! :D

@xh SAN: *i love giving gifts and getting them - in that order :-D i love to watch the face of a person whn i give an unexpected gift...that is teh most precious thing.."

tatz really very sweet...really :)

@sk: we're fellow cancerians rem? so my birthday is in july :P newyz, wishez accepted ;) im a sucker for them ;)

@mayth: ippovum illa, june um illa...itz in july :) glad u wr close ;)

@kp: not my bday bt thnx! :)

@keshi: hand made giftz r awesum! i do tat quite a bit...makin cardz etc...itz the least i cn do considerin im broke most of the time :)

@janie: tatz u n ur accepted the way u r...ur luv is MORE than a gift :) romba senti?? :D

@drenched: AWW!! no gift? such a sweet lil gurl like u shudnt b giftless! gimme ur address now, n im gna send u smethin asap! happy tree friendz?? ahem, no commentz...i dnt wanna hurt ur sweet friend :) i guess we hv juz gta b satisfied with the 'thought'! hehe...

isn't 'love will...' totally overshadowed by 'hotel..'???man! finally someone who agrees! :)

n japanese. i studied it for 3 yrz till it became a lil too time consumin..lotta nasal stuff...but realllllllllll nice language to learn...pretty difficult but totally interestin...give it a try..il help if needed :)

@ekta: dont think of wat the other person wants. juz give wat u wanna give, they juz have to accept it...like it or nt ;) hehe...im tryin to follow tat policy :D

Winds of Change said...

well..all of us luv gifts...! i jus luv the personalised card u had given me (a year back) ....but i also hate the fact dat u havent given me my bday card! :x ....newayz...im touched!!!!!! n i simply LUV giftin ppl....but rite nw ive been thinkin of giftin the secee6 for sooooo loooooongggg dat i wondr wen id do it....cuz i really want it to b perfect....n yeah bout ur fone....it reached the saturation pt :).....back to giftin....2 me...more than the gift , wen it comez to bdayz itz also the 'surprise' element....man....u guys jus flooded me wit gifts on my bdayz....thanx a ton...n most of all...i wuz jus glad e1 wuz out thr....yeah...i too save the wrapperz along with the 'best wishez' cardz n stuf...as for ur bday.......wait n watch :)

u kno who

The King Centaur... said...

well...

There a lot of people who will go to any extent to keep ypu up and about.. :D

Thats about it! Be ur crazy self!

TM

Doll said...

hmmmmmm buji....whrz my gift!!??!!

Subramanian Ramachandran said...

wat makes ur post super special is the way you have written..... that excitement, that enthu....... it is the *WOW* factor as far as ur blog is concerned....

the crush-mush post and this one....

chanceh illa :)

if u get a chance, visit ur namesake, sis' blog http://memoriesofprithz.blogspot.com she too wrote posts of this kind when she started, but now settled into more of stories :) u wud like it i bet...

and regd the blog background... black and white is fine....but appapa vara different colors than konjame konjam eye catching :) never mind anyway....

Keshi said...

awww :)

gifts dun hv to be expensive...the LOVE u put into em is what really matters...

besides some ppl give expensive gifts just to show off their wealth LOL!

Keshi.

cva said...

Choosing a gift has always been difficult.

When in school, for every friend's Bday, we all pool in to buy a photo frame or an alarm clock.
No matter how strongly u decide not to buy a frame or a clock, u end up buying it again.

Things have changed. I know people better now and I tend to give some personalised gifts.

I have liked receiving gifts. I would take anything and proudly display to others. Nothing has changed here. Any time, any gift, I will be happy to take it.

Preeti said...

@ruby: xnt say thnx enough...n u dont havta gift anymore...thrz sooo much i owe u :)

@techno:i hope ur a part of 'those' ppl...?

@dolz: 1 gift comin up...soon...!

@rsubras:thnx thnx...!u r tooooo nice to me :") naa nijamave all blushing dan :)

will definitely read the link uv given me :)

@keshi: sooo true! i hate display of wealth in any form! i wud never hv to worry abt tat ;)

@cva: yea, the alarm clock n photo frame! even now for weddingz n all i guess those r the best choices! hehe...bt personalized gifts go an extra step in makin someone feel gud... :)

Keshi said...

good girl.

Keshi.

Lavanya said...

Yappa! so much of cool stuff! luckkky girl :)

Anonymous said...

giving gifts is a real pain if ur a guy. :P
Its hard to kno what u should give the person. I remember i gave a girl a swiss knife and she gave me the 'urgh, boys' look!!!
i mean...isnt a swiss knife one of the coolest things to own??
its mad.
But ys, i DO like recieving gifts, coz somehow ppl seem to kno what exactly i want!!! **yay**
cheers!

KD. K Bodhi said...

Can I borrow your friends? I have never got a decent gift ever.

Hmmm.. I havent given a gift also;).

Prathi:-) said...

hi:)
hmmm whrz my gift di????
btw... evn i love gifts... and i loveeee giving gifts... esp surprise ones...
btw... ppl.... p3 has given in some truly amazing gifts too... actually we both roam arnd in archies 2gether almost always... so i kinda knw wht all she likes...
but she can turn even the most simplest cards into a truly memorable one... wht with all the rhyming words n cute compliments???? she is a truly adorable doll:)
she got this amazingggg photo frame "sisters" 4 valentines for dolz... it was sooooo cute...
many thngs like dis....
well... we all love gifting and getting gifts:)
and hmmmm the more thoughtful n personalized the gift is... the better... dts my belief... the more u run arnd n take pains to find the right thng... the more better the gift is...
well i guess the
"no pain no gain" theory from fitness realm is applicable here too;)
nwz...
love u di:)

Prathi:-) said...

and abt rupz gift of the phone thng?????
gosh... remember copper chimney???? rupz... i was soooooo glad u got her dt... man her phone was in a PATHETIC condition...
goshhh.... i was so glad i cud atlst help get off ur old panel...
and rupz dt was the most ideal gift u cud have ever given p3 di...
good one:)

Preeti said...

@cc: thnx thnx :) me lucky no? ;)

@upec: i knw hw 'gud' guyz r at giftin...itz actually kinda cute to c wat a guy comez up with...n the swiss army knife...?i think it ws a super idea...!really...cuz iv juz realized hw important a tool it is for self defense :) keep ur innovative zing on dude :)

@ok: borrow my friendz...?sure :D hehe...give a gift n ul soon gt many :D

@prathi: finally...:P n yea ruby n ur happiness at the panel ws way beyond mine i guess...rite? n the cardz, juz my small way of lettin u ppl knw hw much i luv u...tho i scribble n scribble into it :D luv ya!

busy-writer said...

chumma gifts?! all this? :O :|
*insert foul words* :|

u mean mean girl. show off. hmmph.

lol jus kiddin! yeahhh, gettin gifts are fun, total fun. choosin gifts are fun-er. okay, not fun-er..just fun.

:D

Preeti said...

@busygurl: 'when uv gt em, flaunt em! tatz the policy i swear by! :D showoff is my 2nd middle name u know ;)