This post originated from the news item that shares of one company were offered to employees of another which happened to be a customer. The whole idea of appropriateness or otherwise of behaviour is deeply rooted in the socio-cultural fabric of the society. Different cultures view gifts very differently. In many parts of Asia, it is perfectly all right to give/accept a gift that is more like a souvenir and is not measured by the cost/value of the gift. This is more pronounced in Middle East where it is a part of culture to offer gifts that are not "cheap". Is an offer of a merchant banker to a fancy dinner (with Chateau Margeaux, caviar et al) or invite to a 18 hole golf course in Scotland with best of malts, salmon, Grouse shooting, fishing et al different from offering a Mont Blanc or Waterman to a business associate? Where does the thin line vanish differentiating a gift from a bribe? As is said in Indian mythology that everything that you see is a result of the context t...
Moving on from the core theme of only consumers to a broader Indian complexity. An amazing country that can be challenging to understand due to its diversity - economically, socially, linguistically, racially and what not. Enjoy the THALI as they say....