Sunday, June 7, 2015

1st birthday craze

1st birthday craze

Now this is the hottest business everywhere. People spend in lakhs, cost includes hall, food, gift, return gift (for those kids who come with gifts)...especially this has become a necessity in apartments/housing societies....
Some people, as I hear, are even celebrating monthly birthdays, as in every month after birth the same day till first bday!
Though I myself appreciate celebrations as a means to gather people to transact in many ways, socialize, fun, entertain.....etc....not sure if it really is worth the spending when the celebration is actually for 2 to 3 hrs max.
Is this really necessary? Dont we do this only to show off our financial status? Arent we or the kids all get nothing effectively from it? Is there an alternate form of celebration? I mean some worthy celebration other than charities/NGOs, with relatives and friends?

By any chance does it have any positive effect at all that I fail to see?

When i raised this issue on FB, the reasons that come out are, primarily social pressure to show off, to declare my capability, also when kids grow they start demanding themselves and the other kids in the apartment could also put pressure. Some cases there is a need when you move to a new apartment and have to create a neighborhood network.

And there are also people who limit the expenses to actual need of the celebration with whom i dont have any arguments.

When we already junked so many meaningful celebrations, especially marriage, for the sake of show-off, should we add more?

As a friend put it, this flashy show-off attitude doesn't stop at just first birthday, it continues with the parents in admitting their kids to international schools just because someone else they knew did it and burden their kids, buy costly consumer electronics, furniture for home, ...etc., it slowly spoils the real purpose of a family and home

My argument is, if you want to celebrate with society and you are well enough to spend, why instead group plan a trip to a zoo or a historic temple...or something similar that has a value.

Are we showing our kids that we are slaves to the society that we live? Shouldn't we inspire our kids instead to stand and deliver beyond all social obstacles?

Thanks to Prashanth, Lakshmikanth, John, Daffy for joining the discussion on FB

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