Conventional flowers, cards, cakes and cups are a passé. This Father’s Day, young Ranchi-ites readily opted for utility gifts that would stay with their father for a lifetime.

Customized belts, wallets with names embedded in them and juke boxes with personalized covers are among the fresh entries to the shelves of gift stores in Ranchi this Father’s Day.

“We came up with a new gift idea on this Father’s Day. We used bamboo sticks to write down quotes and messages this year. Customers really loved this idea and we have received around 150 orders both online and offline,” said one of the workers at Ferns and Petals.

However, it was not only about gifts this season. Ranchi-ites walked the extra mile to make their fathers feel special by planning parties and fun events.

“I threw a party for my father and also invited other relatives like my maternal and paternal uncles who are also very important to me. I gave them all personalised pens as a token of love,” said Ritesh Kumar, a class 8 student of Delhi Public School, Ranchi.

Today, children have easily cut the ice when it comes to interacting with their fathers. The youth here feels that a father today plays a parallel role of a friend too. “I am extremely vocal about things going on in my life and I seek my father’s wise counsel whenever I am in a tough situation,” said Vijeta Kumari, 22, a student of Central University of Jharkhand.

Father’s Day also came as an opportunity for shopkeepers to earn big bucks. Shops were showering attractive discounts and offers on Father’s Day gifts.

Snighdha, 30, a teacher in Ranchi said, “Every year on Father’s Day I go to an old age home in the memory of my late father. I treat the elderly there with lots of love and good food.”

Thus, whatever the approach maybe, the essence of celebrating this day is the same. Versatility in gifting options has come as a unique way of expressing this very essence.

Cakes are an all-time favourite of people when it comes to celebrating an event. But cake shops in the city are going a step ahead by assigning a particular theme to that very day. Rishi Hora, the owner of The Cake Shop Bakery said, “This Father’s Day, we decided to highlight the bond between daughters and their fathers by baking innovative cakes. We sold more than 300 such cakes today.”