When my mother-in-law was staying with us in Dubai, she wanted to check out the ATM machine at a hotel in Abu Dhabi which spits out gold bars.

I didn't think it was a good idea, because like most compulsive gamblers or alcoholics who can't wait to bet on their last dollar or dirham, or have their first sip of the beverage as the sun sets, my mother-in-law is a compulsive buyer of gold.

I feared she would finish the dirhams she had brought with her in traveller's cheques even as her holiday with us started, though I must confess I was curious to see this teller machine myself, wondering who in their right mind would buy a gold bar from an ATM.

Unfortunately, we never got around to going to Abu Dhabi, so I took her to the nearest hypermarket where she bought a tiny gold coin, despite exhortations by my wife that buying gold was silly at this time when the price of the precious metal was high. (I am sure my mother-in-law is having the last laugh as the price of gold is still climbing).

She was happy with the coin, though it felt light as a feather and it did not make the satisfying pinging sound when you flipped it in the air with your thumb. She was doubly happy as she also got a free perfume. Only, when we reached home, we realised it was a men's perfume.

Salesmen in most Dubai stores are known for either their indifference to customers, or for the irritating way of stalking them, walking behind them every step of the way, as they browse around the shop.

So I thought the torture was richly deserved when my mother-in-law picked up the phone to ask the salesman why he had given her a men's perfume. The conversation went on for a couple of days at around 11am every day, with a different salesman each time, until she decided to give me the perfume, a gift which I declined because I feared I would get a skin allergy.

I was reminded of this recently when my colleague in Abu Dhabi mentioned that a hotel was vying for the Guinness Book of World Records and planned to set up in its foyer the most expensively dressed Christmas tree adorned with gold jewellery.

Absurdly excessive

It sounded absurdly excessive and definitely not in keeping with the spirit of giving. But alas, most festivals in any faith today have lost their traditional charm and have become crassly commercialised.

Like Ramadan, which is meant to be a month of charity and forgiveness, has turned into a month of excessive consumption. Or Diwali, the colourful Hindu festival of lights, has turned into a deafening display of fireworks and night-long sessions of gambling, Christmas has turned into a nightmare for gift-givers. (The above rant is just to empathise with those who undergo hours of stress and uncertainty trying to find a Christmas gift that hopefully won't be re-gifted).

Incidentally, my gifts usually get me into trouble. I once bought a four-speed bike for our son and hid it in the kitchen. When he woke up early morning and walked sleepily for his glass of orange juice, he got a terrible fright at seeing the sleek machine standing in the middle of the kitchen.

Anyway, I had bought a pair of black jeans and a black sweater and had watched Ben Affleck's movie, The Town twice, after reading that the Christmas tree was adorned with over $11 million worth of jewels. But I had to give up plans of picking my presents off the tree after a huge controversy erupted over the immoderate extravagance and it came under public scrutiny.