And why not?
What is wrong with it?
We are humans. We all have a place in our hearts, the teeny-tiny shrine whose goddess likes to give and take each day!
Okay fine!
You give prayers, you give smiles, blessings, wishes and perhaps some money too. And you give dinners. I am not ignorant to that. And some of you who are well off may also have been generous with expensive gifts in the past.
But I am not talking about that. I am neither talking about the rich only who can afford it nor the religious ones who give prayers almost as similarly as they do on any other day.
No. I am talking for everybody, every one of us_ the famliy members, the friends, the old, the children. All.
Why are our festivals getting so dull, dreary, and ordinary as the years pass?
Why are children not excited anymore as the Eids arrive?
Why are the young people still wanting to be out with the company of friends and not among family, singing songs and probably watching movies and doing all the fun stuff that they do?
I think we can improve it. I think we can add something to it. And what may that be?
Gifts.
No, no. Nothing expensive, no.
Nothing lustrous. (But If you can do that, I don’t say that’s wrong).
Something simple. Something that you see produces a spark in their eyes whenever they see it or lay their hands on it. Or something they thoroughly enjoy, or have been craving for a long time.
A bar of chocolate? A favourite shampoo? Maybe a silk scarf for your daughter, because recently she showed you the picture of a girl wearing that in her pony tail and told you how beautiful she looked?
Perhaps, a bunch of nuts for your little boy there who you take to work with you and you know he really wishes for them?
See? These gifts need not be big. They just need to be capable enough to bring a smile on the faces of your beloved ones and keep that smile for some time? There need also to be an element of surprise in them, your family members need not be expecting them at all…….at least not from you. And at last, they need be on the day of festival (or a few days before) so they may know these are the times of joy!
Believe me. Christians do it. And that’s not only why we should do it. But because they put a lot of thought, energy and excitement into it. And that pays back well. It keeps families together, loving and warm in the cold, raw Decembers.
We can do the same.
P.S. It can also be as simple as a book!😉
