What mithai you get decides your place in the gifting hierarchy

What mithai you get decides your place in the gifting hierarchy





Mithai gifting is not as simple as it seems.

The kind of sweet selected for you is a giveaway of your place in the social circle, believe gift analysers

For Indians, festivals are about mithai splurging. But for the many `gift analyzers', mithai gifting is no trifling matter. If you thought your mom or dad just go to the mithai shop and pick one kind for everyone, here's a reality check. De pending on the price, ingredient quality and pop ularity, every mithai comes with a hidden `market standing' in the gifting hierarchy . On the basis of mithai shop conversations and social circle gossip, here's our hierarchy of mithai gifting.

WE'RE IMPORTANT AND KAJU SHOWS IT

Kaju katli and other kaju sweets have always carried a `fancy' tag, with a comparatively higher price per kilo, and in the mithai market, they still hold position number one in the gifts category . According to Ankit Gupta at Anand Aggarwal Sweets in Dwarka, “Kaju katli looks presentable and everyone knows it's expensive, so it makes for a good gift for important people whom you want to impress.“ With a `500 or more per kilo rate, every family usually buys limited quantities of kaju mithai to be given to select, important members of their gifting circles. So, if you've gotten one or more kaju barfi dabbas, relax and enjoy the attention, because you've definitely made it big in your social circle.

KALAKAND AND MILK CAKE: GOOD INGREDIENTS FOR GOOD FRIENDS

According to mithai business insiders, like price, ingredients also matter as a measure of the market standing of any sweet, and ultimately , the social standing of the recipient.Kalakand is therefore considered a shaukon wali mithai and gifted to people with good taste. Similarly, milk cake, which is sold all year round, is considered to be a rich mithai in terms of ingredients, and gifted after making sure the recipients enjoy this variety of sweets. According to a salesperson at sweet shop, “These two mithai are good gifts to give because they are very good quality products. Sab ko kal akand nahin diya jata kyunki yeh `achhe logon' wali mithai hai. Milk cake bhi log khareedte hain kyunki yeh achhi, tasty mithai hoti hai.“ So a box of either of these shows that you are a family of appreciators of taste.

GULAB JAMUN, RASGULLAHS: NO-BRAINER GIFTING

It doesn't matter whether you're on the white side or brown side here ­ getting a box of either of these means you're one among many others for the mithai giver party . According to Manoj Aggarwal, who works at a sweet shop, “Gulab jamun and rasgullah are the safest mithais of them all. Yeh tum apne padosi se leke kamwali bai tak kisi ko bhi de sakto ho, bas quality ka price change ho jata hai.“ This basically puts rasgullahs and gulab jamun in the no-brainer gift category , which can be bought by ordering on the phone, sending drivers to pick and drop these from the shops.

SONPAPDI: EAT IT OR PASS IT ON, WE DON'T CARE

There is no house in the city which will not receive at least one box of sonpapdi this Diwali. From the bulk gifts in office to the bigger gift packs sold by sweet f brands, sonpapdi is easily one of the most sold mithais in the Diwali market. But don't get fooled by the sales pitch of `oh, yeh toh lambi chalne wali mithai hai'. Like gulab jamun, this mithai also shows you're on a list and not in the mind of your gift giver.Manveen Kaur, who works with a human resource consultancy , says, “Getting a box of sonpapdi means that the person giving it just picked it up from a store and didn't think twice about it.“

BARFI: KHOYA IS UNCOOL, BUT WE'LL GIVE IT TO YOU ANYWAY

The `khoya is unsafe' dialogue has been circulating in the mithai market for a few years now, but salespersons tell us how they still manage to sell good quantities of khoya barfis every year. According to them and us, it puts you in the `dabba pakdao, aage badho' category . Like *Shalini Dhamija, a homemaker, puts it, “There are so many people whom you have to gift some mithai to because it's a tradition.

Yeh dabba exchange karne ka routine chal raha hai toh chal hi raha hai. I pick out these mithais that I have to give to my not-so-nice neighbours on the last day .I know ki agar main unko duniya ki best mithai de dun, toh bhi humara rela tion won't change. Why bother, then? It's a formal ity gift and I buy a for mality mithai for them, guilt-free.“











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