Our readers sure are a romantic bunch!
We asked readers to send in the best Valentine's Day gift idea they could come up with, and boy, did they! Out of the hundreds of responses we recieved we picked the following top three ideas; if you are among the following three, please email us at getahead@rediff.co.in to claim your prize!
In first place we have Sumit Bhagat, who wins a Rs 2,500 gift voucher from Rediff Shopping, and here's why:
I do plan to send her a total of 14 RED roses, out which 13 would be real, each with a love message and a stuff toy/chocolate. The last rose being artificial rose, with the message...
"HOPE THIS LOVE LASTS till the LAST ROSE WILTS AWAY!!!" with a Pendant hidden inside the ROSE.
In second place is Neha who wins a voucher worth Rs 1,000 for this idea:
My valentine is an Assamese boy and I'm a punjabi girl learning Assamese language (chori chori-chupke chupke) just to surprise him on valentine's day. I'm very much sure that this will definitely surprise & make him happy a lot & would be one of the happiest moment of our life. I'm so excited.
Coming in third is Kshitindra Nanda, winning a Rs 500 gift voucher for this idea:
Create your own raffle/coupon book (Simply cut the paper in a rectangular patten, say 4' X 4') beautifully designed using hand made paper or even colored drawing sheet paper will do.Then make holes on one side with punching machine and tie it with a ribbon-- just like our biology practical books when we were in school). This will look similar to an album and you can flip the pages of the book easily.
Design the borders of each coupon with hearts of different colors using felt pen. The coupon book can have a great pic of both of you.
On the coupons write the offers that you can give to your valentine.Every overleaf of the coupon can have a love note.
For example:
#1. A long lasting kiss with eyes wide open, offer available for 15 mins from receipt of voucher.
#2. Avail a bear hug within 2 days from 14th Feb, 2008.
#3.Luxurious foot massage after 7 days from receipt of voucher.
#4.A sweet honest smile when i am most angry.
#5.Steaming cup of coffee within 10 days even when i am dead tired.
#6.7 course meal on your birthday with special friends at home.
#7.Looking for car keys (3 times ONLY) even if i am most busy.
#8.Allowing you in the loo even if i woke up first in the morning, offer valid only for Feb, 2008
#9.Watch WWE (5 times ONLY) when my fav serial is on, offer valid for the whole of 2008.
#10 Free facial at my home spa after a day out with friends.
#11.Free cleaning of cupboard once every month, till June.
While the following responses didn't quite make it to the winner's list, we thought they deserved a mention for their originality, humour or plain ol' sentimentality. Here's a look at the other top entries we received:
A walking stick...just to show that I'll be there, till she needs this!!!!
-- DON
Instead of giving the usual stuff like chocolates, diamonds, etc, I would take her to an old age home where we would mingle with the people and maybe give them shawls (as it is winter time). Alternatively I would take her to the bird market and let her free many birds. I just want to make her realise that Valentines Day is not just about gifting each other material things but it can be totally different like gifting something to needy people or giving the most precious gifts to animals and birds and that is their long lost freedom.
-- Kunvah
It's just been 2 months that we got married. This Valentine being the first one I want to make it the most special one. Our courtship was on the internet.
I have kept every email we had ever sent to each other, from our first communications, to the final ones right before our wedding.
I have printed them all out and have got them bound into a book. I have decorated a cover page for it and wrote a story with pictures as the final page which is NOT the end of our love story, but just the beginning...
-- Konika
One can create a story using pictures taken and chart paper and glue. For eg: Once upon a time there was beautiful girl (photo of your girlfriend here). She went on a picnic (a picture of a nature scene here) and so on. Let your imagination run wild. The story can be stopped halfway and asked to be completed by your other half or you can give it a happily ever after ending yourself.
Take the alphabet of the person for example if it is M, then give stuff that has do with M -- music, memories (photo album), a perfume starting with M etc, a romantic musical DVD, a romantic movie starting with M (give a variety) be it Hindi/ English. If it is A = book starting with the author name in A, movies with A, a dinner coupon for two at a place starting with A (give a variety).
Get a packet of balloons. Fill a few with little things -- a cute key chain, a pair of earrings, candies, a little message on paper -- anything at all but not too big. Blow up the balloon and write you own personalised romantic message on it and then deflate it and present it. The person has to blow up the balloon to see what you have written and then pop it to get the stuff inside.
-- VK
I would and also my girl friend would prefer to spend money in gifting the amount to CRY rather than wasting on flowers and other gift items.
We both hope, if all the lovers around the world do the same thing on valentines day, and we are sure it would be a record donation for the relief organisation, WOW! what a day that would be.
-- Akber shk
I would arrange for a 1 carat solitaire to be delivered to her along with red roses declaring permanent love for the beauty from a an admirer.When shed get the little box the courier would declare that the little box comes with a free gift and present a big carton with label love inside. When she'd open it i'd pop out and give her a kiss she would'nt forget.
-- Vikas Bansal
My valentine gift will be purely personal,sentimental. I will gift my love a beautifully decorated frame containing the photo of the place where I proposed her. As the place is demolished due to new constructions and I had taken a snap of that place beforehand.
-- Vijaykrishna
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