Another Diwali went by…
In the office a few gifts piled up on my table.
‘Sadly’ they came from our BEST partners…
Internally, I had allocation requests of moneys for gifts to be bought for our partners…
In the Marwari circuit, gifting as usual went crazy. Car and drivers clogged south mumbai ferrying gifts. Folks compared who got what and from whom…
Proud Marwari mother in laws fed guests saying ‘Eat this, its delicious – its from our daughter in law’s side’…
This Diwali Gifting Business makes me sick. And motivates me to vomit out this post…
WHY DO WE GIFT?
Historically, the pure innocence of buying a chocolate for a friend before meeting her or just gifting your lover a rose….(No strings on how big or how expensive)…That is what gifting was meant to be.
Now, if you examine the ’emotional’ quotient of Diwali Gifts…. was there any kind of LOVE or emotion involved?
The answer is NADA (zero).
Gifting is this context is BRIBING
Why do you BRIBE?
– When you are in the wrong (Flats in Adarsh society gifted to decision makers)
– When you are weak and need support (Government officers who need their bosses goodwill)
– When you have a bad product (Suppliers sending gifts to Companies to cover up shoddy products)
– When you are simply Subservient (Parents whose daughters are married to Marwari Men send gifts to their in-laws houses as a message – please take care of my daughter!!)
And to flip this:
– Does google bribe you to use its website?
– Does Apple pay you to buy its goods?
– Does Apple pay you to buy its goods?
– Does Jet Airways tell you to fly them for a free gift inside?
The best service providers and creators of VALUE never need to GIFT.
Coz their business is a GIFT to consumers in the first place.
And this begets the question – Why Diwali?
Its a nice convenient calendar date for the BRIBES to be exchanged. In fact in the Calendar it should be called Diwali ‘Bribe’ day.
So, how was your Diwali?
Please also read – https://rodinhood.com/Mr-Marwari-Have-you-met-Mr-Tata