Rohit was hesitant to answer when Ritu asked him, ‘Where is my Gift’? Last weekend he attended a spiritual session and since then he had been looking to buy a unique gift for his girl friend, Ritu. He had given her cards, soft toys, pendants and chocolates but this time he was searching for something which was not material but of higher value, something meaningful.

Ritu who lost her father last year, was still carrying the burden of grief and pain. Although she pretends to be happy and clam, only Rohit knew that she was still shaken and looking at everything through the window of past. Rohit asked Ritu to close her eyes and put her hand forward to receive the surprise. She happily followed his instructions. Rohit closed his hands and asked her to open her eyes. Ritu opened the eyes with her hands still open to receive the gift but wasn’t sure what he got in his hands. Rohit had nothing in his hands, but he opened his closed hands and poured nothing into Ritu’s hands.

Ritu managed to bring a smile and asked, ‘Is that an invisible Gift?’.

Rohit replied calmly, ‘This is your Gift’. Rohit was looking into her eyes. ‘Ok, so what is this Gift called as I can not see it’,  quizzed Ritu. He was still thinking of a better explanation of this invisible Gift. ‘What is the synonym of Gift?’, he asked.

‘Present’, she replied. ‘And what is the synonym of Present?’, Rohit was keeping his fingers crossed as he didn’t want to frustrate Ritu any longer.

‘Present can be a Gift, present as in present tense, like today, now and I don’t know’, Ritu replied. Rohit can read the tension mounting on her forehead. Ending the question round and further frustration for her, he replied:

Look, what I gave you in your hand is invisible gift. It is present around you, always with you, but you have to realise that it is with you and then only you will be able to derive happiness of receiving this gift. A GIFT means PRESENT. PRESENT means NOW or Today. What I gave you is TODAY. TODAY is your greatest GIFT, your best Friend. TODAY will remain with you always. When you look back in your life, all you see is a form of Today. Tomorrow is a promise but not a reality, Yesterday is gone in the pages of history. But TODAY is with you, with me, right here right now. Our best friend is Today and as long as you will keep your Best Friend happy, you will leave nothing but best memories when you look back and Tomorrow will be always eager to become Today.

Two rivers of tears were travelling down her face. She could see the Rohit’s intention and wished if she can freeze this moment, this GIFT of TODAY. She hugged him tightly and with closed eyse, whispered, ‘You are my Today, Today is my Best Gift, you are my Best Gift’.