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Mom, take me to Never-Never Land
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An ever-demanding lifestyle forces parents to resort to extreme proportions to celebrate a simple children's birthday party. Standing at the crossroads, have upwardly mobile parents lost their way, trying to keep up with the Joneses? On Parent's Day,which falls today, PRIYADARSHINI SHARMA takes a look at this family celebration.
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ATTN: RECRUITS, You are cordially invited to join General Veer, on his 7th Birthday for an Army party where he takes on the `Pakis'. War games and non-stop action. Rations will be supplied. A top-secret mission. RSVP, Commander House.
Thus reads an invitation to a theme birthday party for kids, which is fast becoming a novel way to celebrate children's birthdays. Says, Ms Verma, "We spend so much on adult dinners and lunches, that it is only fair we give children's parties more importance. After all they will soon grow up and go away. In these fun filled parties they will have some unforgettable memories."
The effort parents put in to have a theme party is indeed great and at times heavy on the pocket but indulgent parents seem unmindful. "After all the best investments are in joyous family occasions, are they not?" says a father who dressed up as a `ghost' and sent the children into wild excitement. For the Spooky party, masks, cutouts and eerie sounds and laughter were recorded beforehand and played at times to create a scary atmosphere.
"The best part of theme parties is that you can let your imagination run wild. I guess one has to see it from a child's point of view. The children brim with ideas and feel very involved. It just doesn't stop at a cake, candles or presents."
Says a mother who holds theme birthday parties, "I get all the buntings locally. Broadway, in Ernakulam is a great place to shop, for all kinds of birthday nick knacks. You get a variety of paper, for making caps, streamers, paper plates, boxes, cartons and what not. For bye-bye presents too, the wholesale market is a delight."
Shiny single coloured balloons, confetti, sparklers, magic candles are readily available.
A creative mom who had a `Let's go green' party recalls that it was as much a learning experience for the kids as it was fun for them. She organised games like identifying animal cut-outs, and the kids had to state whether the animal was an endangered species.
Another innovative game was to separate stuffed toy animals from a heap of paper and metal litter and `save' them. The kids had to sift recycling litter, like paper from metallic ones. Says Green Mom, as she preferred to be addressed that day, "Even if I could not drive home a point thoroughly, I got the kids thinking on those lines. Besides, each kid was rewarded for his/her effort with a basil sapling, a gardening set and instructions on how to grow plants. I see to it that there is a moral to these theme parties." What a commendable way to celebrate a kid's birthday, but alas this is not the whole story.
Perhaps the best part of such parties is that an enchanted world is created and the children are transported into this make believe world of say, a Cinderella or Treasure Island. They dress up as characters from stories and movies like Red Riding Hood, or Hrithik Roshan and sing and dance to related music. For a `Kaho na Pyar hai' party the children were rewarded with Hrithik Roshan posters.
Menu for these parties are theme related. Gone is the simplicity of cake, wafers and lemonade as regular birthday party menu. It has given way to fancy cakes in shapes and figures connected to the theme.
A few outlets in the city make theme-related cakes. The most recent addition is the `photograph' cake where a picture of the birthday child or a theme scene is embossed on the cake. Says Mr. Shane D'Souza, manager of Hot Breads, Kataribagh Outlet, "We have the machine for these photo cakes in Trichur. A kilo and a half of vanilla cake costs Rs 375. It is very popular as it is something new. Orders of theme cakes are popular and excite the kids and adults. Little children vie with each other to eat a piece of Spiderman's face or hand or the dinosaurs' tail or webbed feet.
Many families celebrating the birthday of a child on a very grand scale take the help of event management companies.
Says Mr Nandakumar of Impresario, "We provide Disney World characters like Mickey and Donald to entertain little kids. At times if we are organising the whole show, we conduct games and have prizes too. The decorations are also done by us. A theme birthday party can cost anything between Rs 5,000 and Rs 15,000, depending upon the requirement."
But a parent who finds it difficult to keep up with this new trend says, " It's a nouveau riche fancy. My child is unhappy that we do not hold such lavish parties and feels that a visit to the temple, new clothes and distribution of ladoos is old hat. He is too young to understand that such extravaganza is not really required."
Probably large-scale birthdays send wrong signals to the impressionable child. Says a no-nonsense mother, "In holding such parties, parents are satisfying their egos and instilling unhealthy competition among children. It ends up with adults trying to keep up with the Joneses." She continued on the practice of pull-a- string piñatas or `Khoi' bag bursting at the end of the party. "Children scurry for candies and grab sweets. They try to outdo each other .It is like looting. I don't think it is a good game to play. It teaches greed. Even bye - bye presents are at times more expensive than the present given. I am too embarrassed when my child comes back holding a present, which costs more than the gift sent. Parents must realise that an ostentatious party is not the only way to make it memorable. A simple celebration can be very satisfying."
A granny who watches the new trend with amusement feels that money spent on this extravaganza would be better spent in feeding kids in an orphanage. Something she used to do along with her birthday son. " We would definitely buy him a present each year but, also feed the kids in the orphanage. That is money well spent. This is quite pointless".
Two sides to a coin but as children crowd around a table laden with goodies, candles lighting their excited faces and doting parents unable to hide their love for the birthday child, one wishes that the lovely occasion remains as pristine as ever without turning gaudy. Look at a child's excitement as it gushes, " You know, today is my Happy Birthday ". Unadulterated innocence. Should parents taint it with adult egos?
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