Quiz results for the 'Open With Smile' gifting contest

Once again, got a terrific response; this time, from all over India. The best answer was from Kalrav Acharya, who shared a truly wonderful experience. He got a lovely and thoughtful gift, which is absolutely my kind of gift. Unfortunately he is travelling and around Pondicherry, Chennai and will be leaving for USA soon. Hence, it will be difficult sending the gift card to him. Here is his answer:

“I was leaving home for a long time, and me and my friends were getting very emotional.

At this point - one of my friends came up with a farewell gift idea that blew me out of the water.

This was given to me when I was leaving and it was a complete surprise.

What she did:
She decided to separate my time in Auroville between 'pull me ups' and 'shared memories'.

On small blue pieces of paper, she wrote encouraging comments that had to do with my life in Auroville and my reason for departure. And on white pieces of paper- she wrote about the wonderful times we shared together. They were tied neatly in small rolls of paper. And put in a small jar from a locally made jam jar. There were about 50 of them- and there were specific instructions of when to pick which color.

It was the best gift one could ask for leaving home.”

Love this gift from the mystery girl, it is so important to understand when to remember which memory to keep going in life. A true friend like her would go the extra mile to gift something so thoughtful.

So here are the two winners:

Bhagyashree Bhaya

“On my brother's 19th birthday I gifted him a DSLR with my own savings and though it shook my budget for the next 3 -4 months but that is just worth it. He never demanded one, but I have seen him struggling hard to click pictures through his phone and upload on social platforms where he can reach millions of other photographers who appreciate others work as well. He might be still a kid in my parent's eye who is not aware of what world is outside but he is clear about his passion and his desires and that is what matters in the end. And so this is what I gifted him… his passion…”

Sister love :) 

Kunjal Malik

“Best gift I ever got was from my parents a very beautiful Pendant once I entered my teenage.

Best gift I ever gifted was to my parents their International trip to Dubai, after spending so much on my wedding n making it grand that's all I could give them in return, gave them their second honeymoon.”

This one describes the most beautiful bond between a child and parents.

I wish I could gift a card to this answer too, though there are only two gift cards, but sharing it nevertheless.

Mitul Khamar

“I want to share with you one experience about gift of my life. Before 3 years I wanted to gift something special to my younger sister on her birthday and finally I decided to gift her Activa. 

On her birthday, when I told her to close her eyes and put keys on her hand she really cried with happiness and I can't explain that moment in words because she was very happy as she did not expect that gift, I still remember her face and I was really happy also because first time I have seen her this much happy.”

Congratulations to the winners :)

When you can’t put it in words, put a gift in a wrapping.

It is so difficult to express what you want to say through words at times. Mostly, we resort to letters or cards in such situations. What helps the most during such times is gifting something to express your sentiments. Though people deny extravagant gifts in weddings, gifting always works its wonders to nourish a relationship.

Gifts are the best way to express your feelings.  Gifts tend to make you happy even if you are the one who is gifting it to somebody rather than receiving it. The smile that you see on the receivers face is the best ‘return gift’ that you could possibly have. Similarly, when you gift something that the receiver doesn’t really like, you feel quite bad, right?

Let me be your Secret Santa!

‘Open with smile’; you will find this written on envelopes containing letters mostly. When you know that you are getting a letter from a loved one, asking you to smile as you open it, you are surely going to love it and as a result, it will indeed, make you smile. However, if you get a gift on a birthday or on some special occasion, mostly you tend to be apprehensive as you open it. Let’s be honest, we all have experienced that time when we opened the gift with a smile but weren’t so happy later on as the gift isn’t something of our choice. Many a times some clothes which we get as gifts don’t fit us well.

We can’t make use of the gift neither can we return it as it is difficult to return without bills. Asking the person who gifted you for the bill is also as indecorous. So what to do?

With the holiday season in full swing, are you also looking for getting a gift for your beloved/friends/relatives? Are you worried that they might not like it? Let me help you here. The beautiful world of e-gift cards is the best way to get the best present for your loved ones. E-gift cards make it possible to not only gift your loved ones but also ensure that they love it as they can get whatever suits their whims.

‘Open With Smile’ is your go-to online store to gift e-cards to your loved ones this holiday season. The wedding season is in full swing, which is the best time to get together with the family and shower the people you love with gifts. Also, with Christmas round the corner, it is time to be the Secret Santa and send gifts. So stop pondering what to buy and check out this amazing website to enter into a wonderful world of gifting. Now you can gift anytime, anywhere with ‘Open with Smile’, http://openwithsmile.com/

E-gift  card from 'Open With Smile'

This awesome website offers more than 100 brands on board and few brands from Ahmadabad also. If you happen to be a corporate you can reach them for group gifting and unique gifting like video messages. Now choose from restaurants like Costa Coffee, Dominoes Pizza or Mainland China and brands like Allen Solly and Fab India for vouchers and gifting. Amdavadis can also go for local brands like Mr and Mrs Somani and Nishi Nail Spa and Boutique.

Let’s have a quiz on gifting this holiday season, shall we?

‘Which is the best gift you got or gifted, and why?’

Send in your comments in the comments section of this blog, or email me:  tvara129@gmail.com

Send in your answers till the next Monday, i.e. 28^th Dec, 2015

The best two comments will get an E-card from ‘Open With Smile’ worth INR 500/- each.

Buy yourself something nice with it or you can even gift it to someone :)

This contest is valid all over India. So come on people, lets gift! :)

The Tamasha effect

‘Jenki life main koi prob nahi hoti woh prob bana te hai’

This is what people say when you claim to be frustrated with your life which might be oh-so-perfect for them.

But...

Have you ever talked to your reflection in the mirror and then got scared that you will go crazy as people say those who keep looking in the mirror go mad?

Have you ever got so frustrated with studies that you pierce you notebook with your pen trying to inflict as much pain on it as you feel it inflicts on you? (only some Indians studying Math will relate I think) And then suddenly stopped yourself thinking this paper and pen can be used to write something wonderful, to draw or paint something nice, and also the same paper is used to make those marvellous storybooks... then saying a silent sorry to the paper...

Have you ever seen characters come out of books, comics or movies and walk around you?

Have you felt like walking in this 'parallel' world with these people? Talking to them?

Have you ever felt that music is personal to each person; hence even if two or more people are listening to the same music they should try wearing headphones? Or let’s just say listening to music on headphones when no one knows what you are listening to is a great way to connect to music. Even though it’s a stupid song, it connects your personal energy to the universe.

Have you ever felt so?

Have you ever not bothered to see the video of a song you simply love as the visuals you have in your head are just beautiful? When you don't want to see anyone else in the video as you have pictured yourself dancing on that song and that is just how you want it.

Has the magnificent history of this world ever got mumbled jumbled in your head that you place an Indian bride walking on the aisle in a church or felt that your house-help resembles a character from a story and just then something they do brings out that character alive? Do you place Mickey Mouse in a remote Indian village or think how would the streets of America look if there were mice running around? Does this ever happen to you when you keep reading on different subjects simultaneously? And crazy as the thought is, you like it because it’s your own creation? A secret between you and yourself.

Have you ever imagined fungus growing in your stomach or that a weird insect is having a walk through your intestines even though you know you have a minor stomach ache due to something that you ate?

Do you love listening to stories? From just anyone who bothers to tell you one? Just like childhood.

Hearing and believing make-believe stuff, though you absolutely know its make-believe?

Yes I have felt all of the above...

and hence I could connect to Ranbir’s character in Tamasha. ‘Jenki life main koi prob nahi hoti woh prob bana te hai’, this was told to Ranbir’s character Ved by his father in the movie when he kept getting frustrated by what he calls ‘aam zindagi’. While I loved this statement his dad makes, which is so true for some people, and it even made me smile in an otherwise intense scene, I could understand how Ved felt, as what may be a great life for most people is boring and dull for him. It’s all about the perception, and naturally people who live in stories have great expectations out of their lives - which make their degree of frustration higher and difficult to be understood by others. Deepika’s character Tara is a nice one too - who loves, understands and even helps a person like that to succeed. Imtiaz Ali sure loves romantic stories - and he has a knack of showing a characters personal journey along with a wonderful love story in his movies’ - this is a difficult feat and he always gets it right, while also becoming better with every movie.

Loved Tamasha ya! The tagline is perfect – ‘Why always the same story?’ People who actually love stories, would appreciate fresh ones rather than formula ones.

And yes when I see writers and filmmaker’s returning their awards in India due to the growing intolerance, I feel really insecure about the wonderful stories of our beautiful country. Hence I ask for tolerance. These days’ filmmakers’ say a Thank you to people for watching their movies, (it should be other way around) but I thank Imtiaz Ali for Tamasha. So ya, a big thank you for Tamasha.

I think it should be nominated for Oscars this year unless we get a better movie. Don’t you think that we have amazing movies but we send the wrong ones to Oscars sometimes? We should either not bother about the Oscars altogether or send the right ones for the competition instead of always cribbing why we never win. We need to have a global outlook for the same… it can certainly come by being more tolerant…

This isn’t a review. As I don’t write movie reviews :P I just write about the effect. So here is the Tamasha effect:

Payal and I are walking out of the exit door of PVR.

Me: I think I am exactly like Ved.

Payal: I think I am exactly like Tara.

(OK people; don’t take it the other way)

Me: Wait, we need to go back and give ₹30 to the guy at the popcorn counter as I owe him and I don’t have cash.

Payal: I think I also don’t have, wait let me check. (She looks in her bag and finds some cash and hands over ₹30 to me)

We go inside and pay the guy at the counter who is surprised that I came back to pay him. We walk out of the mall and are waiting for an auto. We live really close by so all autowallahs say a big NO.

Me: We need to go to the ATM, as I borrowed ₹100 from Rashmi(the other room-mate) as I had no time to go to the ATM and she wants them back as she doesn’t have change. (Payal was out with her friends and had joined me at PVR)

Payal: You told me you walked here, so what did you borrow the money for? Oh, the popcorn! 

Me: I need to have cheese popcorn while watching a movie at PVR.

Payal: What?!

Me: Yes, it’s customary and mandatory.

Payal: You really are little mad like Ved. Please don’t end up selling your stuff to fulfill your crazy fantasies. HA -HA! 

Me: Oh please, I am not that crazy… just a little bit.

P.S.  There is a little blunder in Tamasha. Deepika’s blue dress becomes a little longer in the later part of the song Matargashti as she is required to do some bouncy steps on stairs :P It could have been the same length or the bouncy steps on stairs could have been avoided.