Just a couple of days ago, I celebrated my birthday......Nothing unusual there, a birthday does happen once a year and so came this one, but somehow this one has been one of the best ones I had!!
Things that I took for granted, once upon a time, like the presence, love and enthusiasm of all my near and dear ones, taking out times from their busy work schedules(all for me to have a happy day), had left me speechless with gratitude! My husband, Son, sisters, nephews and nieces worked so hard to make my day so very special. The fun games, the acts/performances put up by my nieces and sonny boy, the choice of food and drinks, not to mention the desserts et all, towards the end of it all, I truly felt like a first-former enjoying her first big birthday party!! had so many bigger ones in the past with much more than this but, somehow, this one , for me, was the BEST of them all......and I cant seem to thank them all enough..........
As a child, I remember waiting for this day, planning out so much in advance the dress to wear, the sweets to distribute in class, the small party for the class-fellows in the evening with songs, music, games, all done by us children... (cutting a cake etc was just never or only once in a way affair in our childhood) Party snacks were mostly homemade, made by none other than dear mom and comprised of barely two or three items , but would be relished by one and all!! Infact, they disappeared so quickly...... Return gifts were not mandatory and if at all, they were school stationary ie pencils , rulers, notebooks , erasers etc ie something which was useful and not just seen and thrown away.....
Today, I find so much competition , not only amongst children, but more so, their parents, to have the best parties for their school going kids....Each one is all set to outdo the others in the organising of such parties.......It is an Event by itself with Event Management Companies conducting the whole affair ...:)
what must be done by the kids (ie the use of their creativity to be involved in arranging activities and brighten the party) is all done by these companies. All the hosts do is to doll up both themselves and their kids and go about the party in a filmy way.... So much food is ordered and wasted, expensive gifts and return-gifts are exchanged, the children, instead of looking at the fun and games are busy checking out their return-gifts and chucking them away, while the dolled-up mommies are comparing/criticising them........... Inspite of all the pomp and grandeur in these parties, what is I see lacking is the child-like attitude and enthusiasm of ..... the children.........they dont seem to be really enjoying as they must and this has led me to thinking about why so much materialsim cannot bring that naked joy that I had seen and felt with my friends as a child and then it suddenly comes to me as a shocking enlightenment, shall I say.....
Perhaps, what is happening to day to all of us is what we may call the problem of "EXCESS".....Today, there is "too much" of everything .......and therefore there is no feeling of joy in small little things......nothing is good enough as we all have too much to compare with!!! We are neither happy with what we give nor what we get.................so what can we hope for our children to be happy with??
I wish, we elders really give a serious thought to these happenings around us and start, once again to personally involve in these happenings to rekindle these smaller joys into our future....our"generation next" ....what say, friends???
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