Raksha Bandhan is the occasion when even celebrities take time off from their hectic schedules and soak in the spirit of the festival.

It’s that auspicious time of the year when brothers and sisters strengthen their tender bond signified by tying of the sacred thread.

And gifts are an essential element of the festival to reflect the spirit of sharing and caring. Riddhima Kapoor this Rakhi wanted quite an interesting gift from her famous actor brother Ranbir. What was that?

As a media report stated she wanted her actor brother to come up with as many super hits this season as he can as her best Rakhi gift. The news report mentioned: “Riddhima, a busy fashion designer, wasn’t able to go to Mumbai for celebrating Raksha Bandhan. However, she sent her rakhi by courier.”

She was quoted as saying: “I would be in New Delhi and hence won’t be able to travel to Mumbai owing to my work commitments. I’ve couriered it (Rakhi) to him. Along with it, I’ve also sent to brother my good wishes and blessings. And all I want as my Rakhi gift from him is that he should give as many hit films as he can.”

On the other hand, Bebo’s (Shivshakti Sachdev) popular on-screen brothers Siddharth Bajaj (Omi) and Vineet Kumar (Daljeet) surprised the former. They visited the sets and celebrated Raksha Bandhan.

The overwhelmed actress prepared a pooja thali and tied Rakhi to them and prayed to God for their well-being and happiness. The ‘brothers’ acknowledged her emotions with a pledge to stand by her through all the good and even bad times.

A touched Bebo said, “I’m delighted that my brothers have come here to celebrate Rakhi with me. They’ve been a strong support; they’ve always offered a strong helping hand. I’m lucky to have brothers who protect and love me.”

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Friendship Day, as we are all well aware, is a day of celebrating your ties of genuine friendship. It’s a significant occasion that fortifies the bond between friends. The day is not far away. And you may well be thinking of an appropriate gift idea for the occasion.

Instead of going for a rushed, last-minute purchase of flowers, here are some gift ideas to work on to make your friend happy.

1. An eclectic picture perfect photo frame with nice personal touch can be presented. Rummage through old photo albums! Reprocess an old birthday, anniversary or a picnic. An intelligently conceived, calligraphic text will make it look classy.

2. Mouse pad with a message is also worth considering. Many computer accessory stores readily customize the mouse pad with photos or illustrations of your choice. You could redo a ubiquitous penholder or mug in the same manner.

3. Burn a CD of your friend’s favorite duets or solos or classic poems. A music CD with personalized messages sneaked in between songs for you friend will make him or her special. Customize the CD cover with a childhood picture that you can source from your family album.

4. Get a personalized piece of art if you friend is an art lover. Gift him or her one of those beautiful, original prints.

5. Engraving your feelings or simply your initials on a gift will make it a memorable and treasured one. A generic gift may not stand out, but it is possible to give a complete twist to even the simplest and commonest of gifts, making them appear fantastic! For example, by engraving a bracelet or a pretty key chain with a special message for your friend, you can make him or her happy.

Gifting your friend something he or she has been thinking to buy for a while is a perfect way to capture the spirit of the day.

With a bit of thought and imagination, you can come up with an interesting Friendship Day gift ideas.

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In our previous blog, we carried details of a news report, stating that the Zoozoo creator Vodafone Essar intends to release official Zoozoo merchandise with the help of leading retail chain Shopper’s Stop.

Branded character merchandise is a territory not many retailers want to tread upon because of the peculiar market conditions. One of them is intellectual property issues. Customer care associate & chief executive for Shoppers Stop, Govind Shrikhande, elaborated that character merchandising is rather easy to copy. There isn’t much control over violation of IP rights.

According to him, film merchandise has a shelf life of roughly two to three months whereas character merchandising is more challenging, particularly if the official merchandise is costly, thereby prompting the demand for their cheaper knock-offs. He estimates that the branded merchandise market is in the region of around Rs 1,050 crore.

Character merchandise has worked successfully in case of the Disney and other you can make your brother, both a cricket and Zoozoo fan, happy with a ravishing Zoozoo rakhi like SpongeBob, SquarePants, Ben 10, and Hanuman etc. The official Zoozoo fan club page on Facebook has over 3 lakh fans. Such branded merchandise works well for brand promotion. It reinforces the image of the brand.

E-commerce site Indiangiftsportal.com stocks products that feature the Zoozoos. Its MD Manan Sharma claims that his efforts to get an official license for Zoozoo merchandise failed. But he is not worried about infringement of IP rights? According to him, they are simply making the Zoozoos popular so there shouldn’t be a problem?

On the other hand, online merchandiser Myntra Designs Ltd has been a tad more cautious. Their creative designers contribute their own ideas and the site has rejected several Zoozoos based T-shirt designs owing to copyright issues.

Irrespective of pros and cons of the debate, the good part is that you can make your brother, both a cricket and Zoozoo fan, happy with a ravishing Zoozoo rakhi.  

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With rains the air, chirpy children are back to school. It’s that time the year to meet old classmates, to study, to shop for books, notebooks and other accessories. If you rewind back to your childhood days, college and school reopening has a charm of its own. As you would recount, making new friends, uniting with old classmates, it’s all fun! Schools have already opened up and colleges will start soon. SSC and HSC students are waiting for their respective admission formalities to be completed.

If you want to strike a bond with a family friend, relative or office colleagues having school or college going children, there can be no perfect occasion than this to give a meaningful and useful gift. You can convert them into exciting gifts for children, and make them happy.

Buying new uniforms, shoes, water bottles, raincoat…the list is endless. Why do make all these a mere routine purchase? Get something for children, which will put a twinkle in their eyes and will bring a smile on their faces! After all, gifting is about spreading happiness, isn’t it? Here are some ideas to help you in making your choice.

• There are unique umbrellas and raincoats specially designed for children and in colors that delight children of all ages. To wade through monsoon waters, you can get specially designed cute umbrellas for little ones.
• Erasers in the shape of Tweetie and Bugs Bunny, water bottles shaped like Winnie-the-Pooh will certainly fascinate the children.
• Fancy lunch boxes will be another good pick. With varieties galore and so much choice, buying a gift for children will be a pleasure in itself.
• Several brands, such as Camlin, ITC, Crayola, Apsara, Sundaram, Maped and Pidilite are leaders in the school products range.

You can only add to the fun by giving some interesting and timely gifts.

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HSC, ICSE and SSC (Maharashtra board) results have just been declared,. Successful students from your neighborhood, or in your family who have passed with flying colors deserve a pat on the back and also a gift in appreciation of their achievement. One of your office colleague or key client’s son or daughter may have done exceedingly well. Take this opportunity to appreciate their efforts with knowledge based books gifts ill help them in their further studies and personality development will be a perfect choice.

Macmillan’s Knowledge books
Macmillan India publishes a wide range of research based books and academic books for purpose of reference and research. Their publications are recommended for schools, colleges, individual and corporate buyers. Macmillan has on offer topical and general encyclopedias that feature the most reliable and updated information with attractive illustrations, photos, maps, charts, lists and tables.

‘Essential Encyclopedia’, ‘Philip’s Millennium Encyclopedia’, ‘Nature Encyclopedia’ and ‘Science and Technology Encyclopedia’ are some of the knowledge and information based offerings from the reputed publishing house.

The Ultimate Trivia Encyclopedia
‘15,003 Answers: The Ultimate Trivia Encyclopedia’ (Random House Reference Publishing), a revised, new version of the popular title‘10,000 Answers’, is an enchanting trivia encyclopedia that comprises ultimate entertaining and engaging facts. It offers umpteen little-known facts that students will simply love savoring!

Interesting and off-beat titles
‘Your Inner Fish: A Journey into the 3.5-Billion-Year History of the Human Body’ by Neil Shubin (Pantheon Books) is a lively, thoroughly engrossing chronicle of evolutionary history, which unearths the startling secrets behind why we look or behave the way we tend to.

‘Maps: Finding Our Place in the World’ by author James Akerman is a must-have volume for inquisitive minds that challenges them to stretch conventional thought about what exactly constitutes a map. It discusses many different ways for understanding graphically the environment in which we exist.

‘Lonely Planet Gap Year Book’ is a one-stop guide for 18- to 25-year-olds who wish to take time off from studies and career only to travel. It comprises handy regional maps and continent overviews that reveal the best routes as well as must-see attractions. It also imparts essential information on pre-trip planning.

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Employers looking to incentivize their employees need not only consider gifts and monetary rewards. There are so many other steps and ideas that they can initiate to strike a rapport with their workforce. 

A case in point is Hindustan Unilever’s recent health initiative for its 15,000 strong team. The program is reaping great rewards. Shyamal Majumdar in an interesting article entitled ‘What’s your vitality index?’ that appeared in The Business Standard gave an insight into the initiative.

Based on an interview with T Rajgopal, HUL vice-president (Medical and Occupational Health), the writer threw light on the employee-driven incentive program at arguably India’s largest fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) company.

Rajgopal and his team have indeed been able to implement a ‘personal vitality’ initiative in a phased manner for the employees of HUL in India. The health plan is ahead of the curve and hence is getting a favorable response from the company employees.

Underlining the importance of the move, the article pointed out: “What employees are doing at lunch and also after work can greatly affect their employer. HUL can consider the rewards-ratio of many other global firms that have implemented well-thought-out health plans for their employees. The ratio for Johnson & Johnson is 3.8:1. The same for Pepsico, Motorola and Dupont is equally healthy.

“We are providing employees the encouragement and the necessary tools to change unhealthy lifestyles before these transform into chronic diseases. We do it in a fun way that also allows them to choose the path, which fits them best,” stated Rajgopal.

At the heart of the new HUL initiative is a vitality index - the measurement of the personal vitality of every individual employee. It is based on four parameters - blood pressure, blood cholesterol, the Body Mass Index (BMI), and blood sugar.

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Easter is the historic day when Jesus came back to our land from the grave to vindicate his teachings and justify to the Romans the ideologies handed down to us. Those who opted to follow this ideology remember this occasion as one, which signals the end of Lent - a period of abstinence from material pleasures when one returns to the old adage of piety.

Easter is a great opportunity for a get-together and gifts! The first thing that strikes one’s mind when you are wished Happy Easter is a toss-up between Easter Eggs and Easter Bunny. Home-made Easter Eggs can be packaged prettily and presented to office colleagues wrapped in cute baskets.

Easter Eggs are wonderfully chocolate-y with a colorful (gold being the main color) surface. Arranged well they make for great decorative items for the desk. If your colleague is married, gift enough eggs for everybody.

Rope everybody else in the office and make a gift hamper for the boss. Make it complete with bunnies (either the soft toy variety or the edible variety), large eggs in a suitably big basket, with a dashing bow.

Keep the right colors and patterns in mind. Opt for a deep color for the bow and for the wrapping material – pick stripes and checks and muted colors.

Opt for an Easter hamper – a beautiful basket, two or three dozen eggs, depending on the number of people in office, confetti, popcorn, sponge balls, or your choice of filling. Get a small gift each for your colleagues and of course, the Easter Bunny. Order a bunny cake, too.

There are options in form of Le Meridien and Patchi for Easter Bunny! Almost every patisserie and cake shop will have its fair share of Easter goodies to select from for every budget.

Tags: Cheap corporate gifts, promotional gifts, Gifting occasions, gifting etiquette, Best business gifts, Best corporate gifts, low cost gifts, corporate gifts companies, Corporate gifting, Business Gifting
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Here are some more ‘ridiculously stupid’ gift ideas that well fit the April Fool spirit from a sneezing, yawning monkey to a screaming rubber chicken. You can come up with ‘stupid’ gifts.

Slingshot Monkey
The Slingshot Monkey is a stuffed monkey that’s dressed like a superhero. It can fly up to at least 50 feet and scream along the way. Scary and funny, both in one go, isn’t it?

Mistletoe to Go
In the mood for love, but unfortunately, on the go? Turn to this portable mistletoe. This attractive arrangement of faux mistletoe carries a suction cup, which attaches to your forehead.

USB dancer
This bikini-wearing dancer can plug into your computer’s USB port & audio port and when audio files run on your system, she will dance and gyrate around the pole.

Get off the Phone Excuse Machine
If you’ve trouble getting off the phone from some unwanted callers, this small electronic device could be the solution. Press a button for ‘Whoops, there’s the door’ or ‘I can’t hear you, you are breaking up,’ and you can thus get off the hook, as the caller will get easily fooled.

Inflatable Moosehead
No need to go through the effort and expense of tracking down a moose and then shooting it dead when you can merely buy an inflatable moose head for the trophy wall. Show that you are brave, even if you are not!

Electronic Yodeling Pickle
The electronic yodeling pickle is a plastic pickle with a high-tech interior. When you opt to press the pickle’s button, it belts out a yodel that’s reminiscent of the Swiss Alps.

Poo-lar Bear Candy
It is a peculiar plastic polar bear, which one may choose to fill with candy poop so when one presses down on the bear’s hind quarters, he will poop out a tasty treat.

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Practical jokes are a fun tradition to celebrate the spirit of April Fool’s Day also known as All Fools’ Day.

Some times, practical jokes are played out on office colleagues, friends or relatives on this day so you need to watch for such pranks the entire day. But keep in mind that this occasion is for-fun-only so you should not feel offended and take the whole thing the right spirit. We suggest some deceiving ‘gift’ ideas for this day in keeping with its mood and spirit.

‘Shocking’ Pen or pain
A perfect gift for the mischievous office prankster! This one is among the most shocking gifts that will, literally be a ‘pain’ for the receiver!!! Try it out and you’ll see it for yourself. Keep it on the person’s desk in such a way that he or she would be tempted to pick it, and you can enjoy the wacky, wicked feeling of revenge!

Faces on ‘Adam & Eve’ and other famous masterpieces
Imagine your friend’s photograph gets transformed onto, Adam & Eve or any other immortal character! You can opt for any masterpiece to get the person’s snap merged into it to customize the frame. You can get an artwork done on the Web! You may add a human figure or a pet in the background object of your choice in the artwork. Make it off-beat or wacky, of course, at your own risk.

SIGN & SEAL’ magnetic set
Add a touch of whimsy to your friend’s boring desk with this pen-holding pinniped. Just give it a whirl!

Pop Art Toaster
Why not let your friend kick start the day with a unique kitchen gadget. We are talking about this accessory that will ‘toast’ fun images into the bread!

These will make perfect gifts for the All Fools’ Day. You can think of more such ideas using your creativity and imagination.

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While selecting a gift for your wife or best friend might be easy, choosing an appropriate gift for your boss or an important customer can become an extremely puzzling and trying experience. There are numerous excuses or reasons that prompt you to gift something special. If you are planning to do so, try to get a gift befitting the mood and the occasion.The gift that you pick should be distinctive and make the person delighted after receiving it for it to actually serve its purpose. Here are a few more tips to keep in mind when choosing a gift:

1. Work out the message you want your gift to convey.2. The gift should reflect your business ethos, occasion and relation you share with the person or the institution. A stylish travel bag is perfect if you are running a travel-related business.

3. One of the most important things you need to keep in mind is the stature of the person whom you are gifting. Keep in mind his or her likes & dislikes and the person’s importance to your business.

4. For somebody doing a field job a leather folder would come in handy. Planning well in advance would help you to manage budget well.

5. Your gift must be different & thoughtful, it must help you stand out from the clutter….Instead of choosing plain diary you may gift one made from hand made paper complete with the recipient’s name embossed on it.6. If you are giving a gift to someone from a different country or culture, learn about his or her choices to avoid any embarrassment. Make sure that the present is classy. 

Avoid giving gifts that appear personal in nature (jewelry, perfumes, clothing, etc.) unless you know the person very well. Rather prefer a pack of greatest hits CDs of one’s favorite artist would be perfect for someone who loves music.

Tags: Best business gifts, business gift baskets, Popular corporate gifts, , Gifting occasions, Gifting events, Worst gifts, Corporate gifting, promotional gifts, Business Gifting
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