Thanking is rightly accorded great significance in relationships. In fact, be it strangers or your most loved ones, we are always expected to thank so as to convey our gratitude to the other person. Modern day counselors and relationship managers also record a jump in the number of people enrolling for special etiquette classes focusing primarily on ways and means to convey thank you. In fact, people find themselves in an inexplicable position when it comes to expressing their gratitude. They wonder how they should thank. Is there any code or protocol they should follow.

Indeed thanking also sometimes becomes a very serious affair. And that is exactly what it should not be. Here are some mental notes:

• Keep a cool head and open-mind

• Develop a grateful attitude towards nature and the world around

• Be observant of what people do

• Learn to regard every small work as equally important because drop by drop makes an ocean

• Stop taking people and things for granted

• Say thanks with genuine emotions and feelings. Pretensions never help.

• If you expect thanks in return for your help, then be prepared to offer double of that out of love’

• Do not hesitate to thank youngsters.

• Age or seniority is no bar on thanking. Do not backtrack just because the other person is your junior in office or a menial worker.

• Rise above caste, creed, race and culture to thank people around you.

• Remember giving freely is a source of great happiness. So thank with open heart.

• Be tactful in thanking too. It should not appear as flattery. Do not overdo it.

• More than the mode of thanking what is important is how you convey the thanks

• Be selective in your approach. How you thank your wife is different from how you thank your boss.