Sunday, June 05, 2005

The Gift

It was Kathleen's birthday, my cousin's daughter. She is 7 now and I was at Bangalore Central wondering what to buy her. I had some time... and I had already thought about the plan... the plan? Yes the plan of action... so the plan was to go to the toys section, choose something..... don't buy it yet.... go around do some window shopping... then go back... pick up the gift and leave. When I say pick up the gift I mean buy it ... just making things clear :-)

Anyways.... So I head towards the toys section forced by the layout of the mall to look at other stuff which I don't intend to buy. I spend about 10 mins out there and decide on something. Gawd!!! that was quick... I still have a lot of time. Window shopping to the rescue. I land up at the clothes section where I know that I can spend time. I have this habit where I like to check out a lot of stuff before I finally pick up something. Often this process is not completed in the same day!!! Thats why I like to shop alone when I'm scouting for clothes.... Its just that the thing that I'm buying has to strike a chord with me. Its called the 'aaahhhhaaa!' feeling. Wierd na :-) .... I am like this only maacha.... Well.. I ended up buying some Jeans which I liked....

"Its about 7... ok back to the toys section... pick up the gift and off to my cousin's place"..... So I'm there at the toys section standing in front of the gift that I had earlier decided to buy and I ask myself, "If I was 7, would I like it". I stand there staring at what I have in my hands... Thinking.... Trying to put myself in her shoes. Her shoes don't fit me so I'm trying harder. I start to feel a bit uncomfortable. Not because of the tight shoes but with my choice. Then it comes out, "Naaahh!". Ok then pick up something else....

So I'm looking around and finally spot something that manages to catch my fancy. Its called a starters engineering set or something... It has these tiny little things which you have to join together to form bigger things. It has tiny little beams and nuts and bolts inside which you have to attach together to form stuff.... interesting stuff... Models of a plane, a car, a pulley system are given on the front. I think to myself, "Once you get the hang of it you just have to use your imagination to build whatever you want". Thats the key .... "Use your imagination"... to build something.... maybe even something out of the ordinary. Its like you have all these sounds inside your head but only when you follow certain rules and join them in certain ways do they become music. Otherwise its just..... its just.... well its just plain simple noise.

I don't know if she will like it but I sure felt like opening up the box there and then and building something. I know some ppl in office who would love this gift :-) My hands began to itch. The neurons in my brain started to send out these messages. The "aaahhhaaa!" feeling. That it.. thats the gift I'll give her. Well come to think of it she already has the gift, the gift to use her imagination to build something..... It just that she just has to discover it. So what I was giving her was not a 'gift' per se. It was a means to an end. An end where she has to realize her gift and then decide whether to pursue it further or no. Its a choice that she has to make. Will she be taken over by the force.... the "aaahhhaaa!" feeling.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful gift, I'm sure she will love it!