There was this uncle, whose son was doing job in Kuwait (pre- Gulf war) and he used to sent dates, ja-namaz and aab e zam zam to his retired father to distribute among relatives and friends.
So, this uncle ji went to relatives in andron e shehr Lahore for distributing these gifts again and again, but finally one of his Bhabhi said ‘ye hamesha Kuwait se khajooren kiyun aati hain, kabhi koi electronic goods hi behj de.. betiyon ke jahez main hi kaam aa jaen ge’.
Baba ji was quite disturbed and then started sending these gifts to masjid.
This short story was written in early 1990s, when materialism was not at the stage we are facing now. have you heard / experienced such circumstances?
Do relatives expect some gifts from you when you visit or have a job in another country? What kind of expectations people have about gifts? latest trends?
one of my cousin did umra last month and he had to do shopping of tasbeeh, dupattas, ja namaz, rumal for whole the tabbar.. nanehaal.. dadehaal.. I have seen this trend and observed that at karachi airport (Umra flight), that people were stuffed with goods like anything. As if they just went for shopping. main to jaon kisi ke liye khajoor aur pani se badh kar ik cheez na laon. roothte hain to roothe, konsa mere ghar anaaj ki boriyan bhejte hain
This short story was written in early 1990s, when materialism was not at the stage we are facing now. have you heard / experienced such circumstances?
Do relatives expect some gifts from you when you visit or have a job in another country? What kind of expectations people have about gifts? latest trends?
In our culture, people don't really expect to be brought gifts when people visit, even if the relatives are from abroad. Visiting relatives are considered guests and for hospitality reasons, you never ask for/expect anything from your guests. Ever.
That said, as a guest, you are also expected to be gracious. Most people do bring a gifts for this reason.
Dates, Aab e Zam Zam , Tasbeeh, Jai Namaz or Prayer rugs are souvenir.
My elder brothers bought gold items from there for sister when they went to Hajj and Umhra along with other items.
But the guy in story was living in Kuwait.. I myself thought why dates and aab e zam zam from Kuwait, before I read complaint by a character in the story.
In our culture, people don't really expect to be brought gifts when people visit, even if the relatives are from abroad. Visiting relatives are considered guests and for hospitality reasons, you never ask for/expect anything from your guests. Ever.
That said, as a guest, you are also expected to be gracious. Most people do bring a gifts for this reason.
I think its exchange of items (gifts) in all the cultures. Even when people come from Umra, people go to congratulate them with sweets. But this latest trend of bringing something for all relatives from Umra / Hajj looks like extravagance and burden on the person, besides it also consume your time, which you can spend in ibaddat there.
That electronic ka chaah isn’t an exclusive to the 90’s thing. Mid-east up until quiet recently was known for its cheap and durable electronics (before everything was Made in China). This is from 50/50 and like…probably from the 70’s
Express that you mind that your guests didn’t get you anything, in our culture, and you’ll find that you may not have any more guests for quite a while.
My point with the Made in China is that what you can buy in dubai, you can also buy the same product, probably for the same price in Pakistan. There is no exclusivity/price difference/restriction on import for sale anymore. And from what I’ve observed, there is no value for people for products that are manufactured in China. My khala visited from Pakistan, and she was quiet frankly disgusted that a big name brand product was at the end of the day was also made in China, and she basically commented “I can get this same thing for 50 rupees at Sunday bazaar”, which to my understanding is the day when everything made in China is sold
TS ka to rishta tootne wala tha last time 
aane ki koi zaroorat nahin. apne tashreef bahir hi rakho.. yahan pehle hi boht gand hai 
