Chinese folk-tale..

setting: the Himalayan ranges, summer...

There was once a litte girl...
She was a bright student...
Used to cross two hills to walk to her school daily...
An inspector was to come to visit her school and all the children were going to get gifts for him..
as happens in all stories, this little girl was very poor and had no gift to give..
so...
there she was, on the day of the inspection, walking school..
her eyes were moist because she couldnt afford any gift...
On the top of a hill, she met a fairy...
The fairy asked her: " Why are you crying my child?"
"I have an inspection at school today, and i cannot afford a gift for the inspector. All the students are getting gifts for the inspector."
With a swish of her wand, the fairy created a bowl out of the thin air...
The girl said:" This is an old wooden bowl. I cannot gift this."
The fairy said:" My child, when you go to the next hill, put some snow in the bowl. Give it to the inspector."
The girl had no other options, so she thought of doing that.
At school, the inspector came. He was a smart man wearing a bright smile and a sharp suit.
All the children gave their gifts to him. At last, it was the girl's turn to give her gift.
She looked at the bowl:
The ice had turned into water.
The girl did not know what to do, she was almost in tears.
Trembling, she approached the inspector with the bowl.
The inspector looked at her and the bowl, took the bowl in his hands, and drank the ice-cool water.
His smile turned brighter, and he said: " All you children brought me gifts, but this little girl knew what i needed most. It is not the price of the gift that gives it importance, it is the feeling behind it."
And he patted the girl..

Now, dont get hasty with your thoughts....
We in India, offer water the moment a visitor enters our house... but this is a Chinese story.
And i dont quite know why the children got gifts for the inspector. We just had to memorize lessons when such inspection happened.

And yet...
the story has a pretty strong moral:
Gifting is an important thing, and in this capitalist world nowadays..
you can buy the most expensive things with money...
the daily tabloid comes with tons of news about who's who of the world, who gifted the most expensive IN things to their someones...
just sit back and think...

I once gave my best friend a brinjal...
3 brinjals to be exact..
and i drew faces of people on them... him & his future family
he remembers it to date....
coz i took pains to draw things on brinjals and create a story for him...

My best friends once gifted me a simple white t-shirt..
although they had written so many things on it with felt-pens, and stuck so many things to it..
i still have it with me...
although i could never wear it, coz with one wash it would have all gone away..
but i still like to read the things they have written on it..

i wouldnt have asked for a better gift...