Skip to main content

Gifts

Image
By
This is a chapter from my third book called Love letters

I was hoping the word gift would have an interesting etymology so that would make a good start to this chapter. The origin of the word gift turns out to be pretty ordinary to me. The word "gift" descends from the Old Norse word "gipt". Gipt means both "gift" and "good luck". There were many times I was lucky and won gifts. When I was in my teens I won a game boy from the Flavorite contest. There was a pallet man as we called him who passed through the village.

At a team building exercise at my first job out of university I was the closest to guess the amount of beans in a bag and won some spending money. At another job I won a stack of Movietowne tickets for scoring the highest in the orientation game. For a time, many weekends I would go watch a movie in the cinema. As a child I looked forward to receiving the gift of money on Eid day. One hadith narrates, "Give each other gifts and you will love each other." Hadiths are traditions of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).

I love receiving gifts but I also love giving gifts. I once gifted my uncle a nice Casio watch that he cherished and used until the band was worn and needed to be replaced. My mom often talks about the beautiful chain and earring set I once gifted her. Charity is also a form of gift giving. I remember the great floods of twenty eighteen when the country came together to help those of us who were affected by the flooding.

It is important to me to have an attitude of gratitude. I am thankful for the gift of life. Every day that I wake up and I am able, I thank God. I am also thankful for the gifts of talent that I was born with. Picasso once said, "The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away." I am learning that one of my gifts is my literary ability and gift of storytelling. For those of you reading this book I would like to suggest that this book would make a great gift to the people special in your life. This is a story of someone sharing their loves with the world and this book will be an encouragement for others to write their own love letters.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A pot of callaloo

By
Call for Submissions: Archipelagic Entanglements   https://singaporeunbound.org/opp/archipelagic-entanglements When I saw the call for submissions online I was doubtful. I do not know enough history. I do not understand the topic. Then after chatting with my friend Chatty I realised maybe I can be the topic. My ethnic and racial makeup is an archipelagic entanglement. Colonialism meets indentureship meets slavery. My mom is East Indian muslim and my dad is French, Portuguese and Mulato christian and who knows what else. I am an example of a pot of callaloo. Everyone's favorite Sunday lunch. I am what happens when lineages cross oceans and histories collide. I am thinking to myself now, what is the message I want to put forward with my blog post? What is the direction I want to take? Maybe it is this. What can we do when we have such a rich heritage and know so little of our own history? First of all I do not think I am alone with this struggle. I did not realise this until I though...
Post a Comment
Read more

Cup of coffee

By
This is a chapter from my latest book called Breezes of Tobago . The cool morning breeze blew the hat off the tourist passing the coffee shop. We sat at the table waiting for our order of coffee and bagels. I had stayed up late writing and was now needing caffeine to stay awake. On entering the veranda of the coffee shop, the sign reads "happiness is a cup of coffee" and "sip your troubles away". This had me thinking about what is happiness? And was the theme of my chat with Chatty as we enjoyed our breakfast in Tobago. I told my friend Chatty that if we could put happiness in a bottle and sell it we would be rich. My friend Chatty then told me that money cannot buy happiness but it was a good idea to make a living. If according to the sign, happiness is a cup of coffee then maybe happiness is coffee in a bottle then. We could call it Caffibean, a taste of the Caribbean in Tobago, a blend of the happiest coffee beans from Tobago. Tobago is not known for its coffee p...
Post a Comment
Read more

Sandy beaches

By
This is a chapter from my latest book called Breezes of Tobago . This story begins on a cool Friday evening in May. Fridays are the best days. Already a great start. It had rained earlier in the day and the clouds were moving away and the sun peeking through. I walked from the apartment where I was staying to Pigeon Point beach. Along the way I stopped for coconut water freshly extracted from the nut and straight into my mouth leaving traces on my cotton jersey. They say that coconut water is the drink of God—fresh from the nut, sweet with a hint of salt, a liquid reminder that paradise can exist in small and simple things. They did not say that but my friend Chatty did. It is my friend Chatty's first trip to Tobago. I asked him what he thinks of Tobago so far? He grinned, wiping a drop of coconut water from the corner of his mouth. "Man… it is like stepping into a painting. The air, the colors, the way everything smells after the rain—it is unreal. I did not know paradise cam...
Post a Comment
Read more