Gifts, Shagun and Reciprocity

How cash gifts and presents at weddings create networks of reciprocity and informal insurance, and what anthropologists and economists say about gift economies.

Guests give gifts, often cash (shagun) in envelopes.

Reciprocity

Families often record gifts received and give similar or larger amounts at the giver’s family events.
This creates reciprocal obligations.

Informal insurance

Gifts help families meet wedding costs, acting like mutual support within communities.

Odd amounts

Many Indians give amounts ending in 1, like 501 or 1,001 rupees, considered auspicious.

Anthropology

Anthropologist Marcel Mauss, in The Gift (1925), showed how gift exchange creates social bonds and obligations.

Economics

Gifts can be inefficient: economist Joel Waldfogel argued non-cash gifts often destroy value because recipients value them less than their cost.
Cash avoids this inefficiency.

Digital gifts

UPI has made digital shagun common.

The gift register

A family writes down every envelope received at their daughter's wedding, planning to reciprocate at guests' future celebrations.

Thinking wedding gifts are purely generous acts

They create networks of reciprocity.

Key takeaways

Guests often give cash shagun.
Gifts create reciprocal obligations.
They act as informal insurance.
Cash gifts avoid the inefficiency of unwanted presents.