A better gift...

So a Friday comes again. Like any other 'simple minded' professional I love Fridays. I cruise through Fridays with the hope that I will get to spend my weekends in 100% pure, unadulterated fun.

Doing laundries are the only spoilers to these two days. My colleagues wouldn't take it kindly if I wear unwashed and unkempt shirts to the office. So a weekend without laundries is an unrealistic dream.

I was emptying the laundries into the washing machine when this beautiful scent knocked me off my senses. For a moment I wondered the reason behind the beautiful scent from the sweaty clothes. Then it hit me.

I realized I had made the right choice.

I never knew buying a gift for a girl was this difficult. She mentioned her birthday during a casual chat a long time back. I was determined to surprise her with something as beautiful as her.

So I looked out for some expert advice. I boast of a gang of male friends who are losers equaling me regarding feminine matters. The only exception being Vattu who had fleeting romances with number of girls and in the end got his balls almost eaten up (altogether a different story). So I turned for advice to a handful of female friends. Teddy bears seemed to be the most popular gift in market nowadays.

I set out to a popular mall nearby a few days before her birthday. Christmas was drawing near. The mall was crowded with the Christmas crowd hustling to buy gifts for their loved ones.

I roamed around the gifts section. The racks were filled with all kind of fancy items- functionally useless, beautiful to look at and coming with a heavy price tag. I hated gifts that had no much use except to be displayed as a show case item. That is why I was reluctant about Teddies too. There were ladies purses, birthday cards, coffee mugs with good inscriptions, fancy jewellery etc. She loves fancy jewellery and she wore not-so-expensive but aesthetically fabulous stuff. But soon I realized I am sure to make a pathetic choice. I should have brought along an expert. Years down the line I do not want her laughing at a stupid piece of jewellery which turned into an antique piece of furniture. Coffee mugs are for college kids and ladies purses were too expensive.

The gift shopping which was supposed to last for a few minutes dragged on for hours with me roaming aimlessly around in the mall. I went to the arts section. The paintings were not that of a good taste and not fit for a birthday girl. The sculptures looked too formal. I moved on to the music section. Since there were no exotic items, I moved on.

I came on to the cosmetic section. She doesn't wear much cosmetics and looks beautiful without. Then the thought struck me about perfumes. The Sales girl was more than eager to help. Her mannerism suggested desperation to sell. She gave me a few sample scents to smell.

Seeing my unruly hair and dirty dress, she asked me how costly I expected the perfumes to be.

Unusual questions confuses me. '350 bucks'.

She looked around helplessly. 'The prices starts from 650, sir'.

I stood, more confused. She didn't stop. She came up with more offers like 'Buy one, get one free'

Prices are not coming down. I told her that I will back in a minute and made an escape to the Teddy bear section again. I was determined to pick out a teddy bear.

I stood there and scrutinized the teddies. It seems all the teddy bears are from the same family. No much difference expect in the outfits they wear. And the prices are too inflated. Teddy bears are trend of the season I think.

Seeing no point in buying a gift half heartedly I rushed back to perfume section and picked out a perfume that had a blue covering. Its scent was slightly heavy. But since it was priced right I went ahead and brought it. There was a slight apprehension that whether the quality and price would match.

I went ahead to the cards section. The guy there was a contradiction. He didn't seem to be interested if the customers needed any help. I was running short of time. The good cards looked old with dog ears. Luckily I got one that looked awesome with a handmade look.

I got them to wrap the gift in shining red wrapper after making double sure that price tag was torn off.

So the morning of birthday I presented her the gift and waited eagerly for the feedback. I got it in evening when she took it out and perfumed my cuffs.

Even after days of mixing with other sweaty shirts the scent hasn't worn off. So my friends, sweet friends spreads your life with sweetness even when the situations around gets bitter. So I guess perfumes are a good choice of gifts for a sweet person.

The name of the perfume was NIKE. I believe it's the Greek goddess of Love.

Afterword: I rechecked and found out it's goddess of victory....sigh!!