RAMADAN is here. The patience level tested and the food craving controlled. If you think about it..it really does help you clean your mind and body if you let it. ‘If you let it’ being the key phrase. But this is an entirely another article so let’s move to the web aspect and get on with it.
In today’s world almost all of us have loved ones who are living ‘abroad’. And Eid is that one, special day where you really wish you had them around you to celebrate. Well, we’re not heading for a review of web sites selling free tickets (sorry!) but aiming for sites that will enable you to at least send a token of your feelings to friends and family.
The web is brimming with sites that have an array of products you can send to loved ones. Be it a cake, flowers, clothes, accessories — name it and it’s all there.
Beginning with www.pakistanishop.com — this is an incredibly vast and resourceful site if you’re looking for goodies to send to loved ones. Home page features a varied list of items ranging from clothes to bicycles to food to books to chocolates and flowers to music CDs and mithai. If it’s a specific country you want an item shipped to, say for example to the US, then just choose the country and the list of items will pop up. Prices and delivery time are all listed. What’s commendable is how they have all countries covered. Twenty-two are listed and then there’s a 23rd flag for “All Other Countries” — so there’s no stopping where you can send out a sentiment. If you’re not into mushy gifts there are plenty of leather goods to choose from — that’s something that will definitely get plenty of appreciation from yonder lands!
Shipping charges are calculated once you’re done filling up your basket. For items within Pakistan — the shipping is free. This site is definitely worth book-marking as it has almost everything you can think of sending to family members, friends et all.
www.sentiments4u.com is another place you can stop by this month. The site features an array of gifts including perfumes, watches, chocolates, flowers, cakes, sweets, fruit, leather items, stuffed toys (that they like to call “stuff toys”), Valentines and Eid Gifts. Unfortunately this site does not ship items outside Pakistan but if you’re looking for a nationwide delivery — they do have that covered. Click on the Network List to see what items can be shipped to a particular location — as not all these gifts are available in every nook and cranny of the country. I guess, one does have to be realistic about how far the cake or bouquet will go before it caves in to the travel time aspect. All gifts are delivered within two days.
Another site full of gift goodies is www.pakgifts.com. They have stocks of chocolate, cakes, mithai, dry-fruits, flowers and perfumes. This address is actually great for people living abroad who want to send gifts to people living in Pakistan. A US based site — Pak Gifts caters more to those who are away from home rather than to those who are, well, home. But you can still utilize such sites as they ship to the US and maybe (if you take out that calculator now..) it will cost less if they’re sitting in the US, and shipping there too. In some cases, I’m sure that will be true — whereas other local sites are very competitive in the product prices. This will need further exploration.
Another site providing gift delivery service only in Pakistan is www.pakgulistan.com. All prices are listed in US dollars so it’s a safe assumption that they’re targeting the Pakistanis abroad. Sadly, most of these sites are US based, not many companies have taken the initiative locally to promote the online gift-ordering concept. This site even has an Iftaari Box — so if you want to order in some iftaari — this site would be a great idea!
Leather goods are truly appreciated by those living abroad. Be it leather jackets, handbags or wallets — Pakistan has plenty of well-crafted leather goods that are valued highly by many. www.jafferjees.com is the place to go for such items. Categories include Travel Goods, Women’s, All & Sundry and Business. Similar to their stores, the site carries a vast collection of leather goods. Plus, they have a discount offer on for sopping online — so even if you’re in Pakistan — it’s not a bad idea to simply buy from their site and have it delivered free of cost to your doorstep. Delivery time, payment methods all are listed in their FAQ section — so there’s no confusion about orders and so on.
Upon further browsing, up came www.786gifts.com that delivers to Pakistan and worldwide. They have a decent choice of gifts and prices are competitive. Apparel has some interesting items. For ‘her’ there are shalwar kameezes, lenghas, shawls and ‘his’ clothes include sherwanis and ‘prince suits’ — don’t ask me what those are! The fabric is chosen keeping in mind the weather in other countries at this time of year — colder.
Other than apparel, the site has the usual collection of cakes, flowers, mithai, perfumes, watches, electronics and so on. in addition to the gifts section there are several integrated web sites offered by the same group. These are 786books.com, 786shop.com, UrduPoint.com, IslamiCards.com and ShadiGhar.com. The book aspect is interesting as books by Pakistani writers are not easily available abroad — so this would be a good gift idea for those who are the literary kind.
Another online store is www.desistore.com. This one has a bunch of books -- English and Urdu, the usual 'cuddly toys', bangles, cakes, flowers and fruits and has some interesting sections like Audio/Video, Family Bazaar and Wedding Accessories. The Family Bazaar has unique items like ‘itar’ which is spelled as ‘attar’ -- so don't get confused! Then they have calendars, cricket bats and even kites! The calendars are available featuring either English poetry or ghazals -- interesting concept. I think this site has some novel gift items that are definitely worth exploring.
Point to remember is that most of these sites carry pretty much the same items — what really counts is the delivery reliability factor. And that’s something tricky. I’d suggest one goes for a well-known company running the site.
RAMADAN is here. The patience level tested and the food craving controlled. If you think about it..it really does help you clean your mind and body if you let it. ‘If you let it’ being the key phrase. But this is an entirely another article so let’s move to the web aspect and get on with it.
