Choosing Christmas gifts

It's Christmas time again. The city's bazaars, hotels and restaurants have spread out a fantastic fare.

THE CITY is sparkling. Night lights, shops done up to the nine's, shiny happy people pouring onto the streets, Santa's friendly face smiling down from shop windows at passers by and decked-up Christmas trees everywhere you go. Christmas is hereand so is the time to hunt for what to buy for those close to us.

Perfumes, clothes, shoes, bags, ties, lipsticks, nail paints etc. etc. These are tried and tested gifts, which never fail to work. But how about stretching our imagination a bit more and buying our near-and-dear ones that special something? The city's bazaars are spilling over with goodies; hotels and restaurants are offering fantastic fare. Let's take a look at some of what's on offer.

To set in the festive mood, lets start with something that immediately delights all of us no matter what our age - chocolatesAnd while you've got the taste buds of your loved ones tingling, why stop at chocolates?

So go on and indulge. Simply send your friends for a late night coffee and dessert treat on the eve of Christmas. Before we talk of desserts, what about the special Christmas spreads that are being laid out by the city's restaurants? Try them at length.

Or wine. What's fine dining without wine? Unthinkable! Choose from the variety available in the city's liquour stores - Grover's, Riviera and Sula are good Indian wines, all priced in the range of Rs. 300 to Rs. 350, and would make a lovely gift for the sophisticated member in the family or that very close friend who is a connoisseur.

But there is more to Christmas than food and drinks. No celebration is complete without candles. And candles make a warm gift indeed. Generous cylindrical gold frosted candles for Rs. 180; small flower shaped floating candles, a set of 3 for Rs. 120; double cocoon like candles which you can burn in the centre and float flower petals around, in a range of Rs.950 to Rs.2000. Speaking of women, nothing warms a woman's heart more than a piece of the yellow metal.

Although all leading shops in the city are well stocked up with the newest designs, a novel gift idea would perhaps be the Astral Art pendants - with symbols of each birth sign in it's design, set in18k gold with precious birth stones, all priced between Rs.1600 and Rs.3000.

And for the apple of your eye, there is plenty of kids' stuff available from latest educational CD ROMs, to interactive toys and games to fun toy cars and bikes to books for all age groups.

There is a lot more on the city's shelves out there. So clear your imaginary chimneys and make way for Santa. Merry Christmas!

A N

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