The iPhone has replaced the sari and the Kindle has replaced books. What’s next you ask, wake up, gifting has just undergone a 360 degree transformation. Gone are the days when you could please your girlfriend with a dress or a piece of jewellery. Now she’d rather have the latest touchscreen than anything else.
Ditto for your younger bro, who will not be pleased with cash or clothes, he expects you to upgrade his cellphone, buy him an iPad or the latest FIFA 2010 game instead.
It’s mutual you can say, who wouldn’t love to receive the latest gadget or gift one to a loved one?
Certainly not Kanishka Sharma, a student who loves receiving electronics and gizmos. He explains, “Gadgets have an archaic sense of antiquity attached to them. I love receiving gizmos, gadgets are mechanical. I am a playstation guy and on my wishlist is Air Jordans and I’d also like a pair of Night Vision Stealth Goggles and my wishlist isn’t complete without the 7M3 Robot Dog.”
Most families and friends do understand the change in pattern of gifting, so luckily, most teens are happy with what they get. Point taken, we said most not all teens. So as Garima Arora, a student, shares, “At home, I don’t have to state what I want, somehow my family knows. Recently, on my brother’s engagement, I got a new laptop as he knew that my computer had become obsolete and on my birthday he gifted me a Sony digicam. So you can totally understand I am thrilled.”
She adds that she loves to flaunt both in front of her friends. “Who wants books or clothes, now I guess mostly youngsters feel happy if they are given stuff that they like, iPad, digital camera etc.”
It’s a mammoth task for parents to figure out how to convince their kids not to pester them for expensive stuff.
Ramani Prakash understands this feeling only too well. Parent to boys aged 11 and 16 years, she shares, “The growing demands of our children puts a lot of pressure on us. It was a shock when recently my older boy asked me to buy an expensive gadget for his friend’s birthday. It was tough dealing with his demands, and now this. It took a lot of discussion at home with my husband and him to make him see our point.”
However Ranjith Kumar, a media professional avers, “I no longer give gift vouchers to friends, I buy them DVDs and the latest software. Till five years back I used to get regular stuff for my birthday like a shirt or cologne. but last year I received a video iPod, which isn’t available here in India, and DVDs and mobile phones. So, I do the same, what I get as gifts, I buy the same for my friends.”