 |
‘What’s the easiest and the most effective way of impressing
a girl and impressing upon her the idea, that she means
the world to you?’ Our resident Casanova, the Playa
answered – just get her a gift. I did a double take, for
if my memory served me right The Playa is extremely
disparaging about guys who shower women with
flower and gifts. After all only a guy with an incredibly
low self esteem would use gifts as a form of ‘proposal’.
‘It’s a crude sidearm of a guy with no game’ says the playa.
So what led to a sudden and dramatic change in his philosophy?
Why giving gifts is a bad idea
He explained ‘using gifts to snag a woman early when you
are both testing the waters rarely ever works. But that’s
because of the kind of gifts guys usually go for. More
often than not, the gifts they are purchase are
unimaginative, cliqued and horribly expensive.
Moreover, using fancy gifts to get a girl early on in
a relationship is a way of saying – I feel I need
to bribe you into liking me (because as a man
I have little else to offer). However, a gift
that’s thoughtful, interesting and romantic
(in the true sense of the word) is a powerful
attraction building tool.’
A lesson from life
Honestly, I never quite understood the difference
before I met my current girlfriend. A Facebook
friendship to begin with, our chats (despite my
aversion to chatting) lengthened. And without
actually ever saying so, the bond had definitely
deepened between us. She like me was in
between relationships and before a fortnight
had passed, we were nicely into each other.
However, even though we both kept making
plans to meet up, our busy schedules conspired
to keep us apart. Then came a three day
impromptu trip to Mclodganj (Dharamshala)
with my colleagues. Leaving aside the various
adventures we had over there (one of which included
trippinn with a British Rock band and crashing at
the place of the lead singer), what made this
trip significant the practical lesson I received on
The Playa’s funda of buying gifts for potential girlfriends.
Mclodganj like most of tourist hotspots is filled
with shops selling local curios. Masks, statuettes,
woollens and handicrafts of every imaginable
variety – however, nothing enthused me enough to
pull out my wallet. Even though I really wanted to
purchase something for my lady love, the admonitions
of the Playa coupled with the fact that I didn’t see
anything she couldn’t have got in Janpath (near CP in Delhi)
acted as a restraint. Instead of getting her a cheesy
(and expensive) memorabilia that would make me
look cheesy, I’d get her nothing at all. It’s not as if I’m
stingy, but here we are talking about a girl I haven’t even
met.
Meaningful Gifts - Know What I Mean
However, on the third and last day of the trip, as were
walking to the mall area, from where we were supposed
to board the bus, I spotted a really old man sitting
under tree carvingdesigns on wooden blocks. The
designs were really
intricate and some of them beautiful enough to take my
breath away. These would make a perfect gift, I thought.
Mah girl
had told me that she was a fervent devotee of Lord
Krishna, and a member of the ISKON group. She had
also told me that she performs there every Sunday
with the other devotees.
Dressed in a traditional lehenga- choli she danced in
front the idol – interesting girl, don’t you think. So I asked
this fellow if he had carved a Krishna motif. After rustling
through his basket, he took out a block on which a peacock
feather was carved. And while it looked interesting enough,
what really sweetened the deal was the carving was actually
a tattoo imprint. The guy dipped it into thick mehendi mixture
and made an imprint on my arm. It rocked!! Talk about thoughtful
gifts.
She loved it!!
Needless to say that she was ecstatic with the gift
and the very interesting story which accompanied
it. A mild exaggeration of sorts but as the Playa says,
a little spice never hurts.
0 comments:
Post a Comment