Celebrating consumerism

I am a no-gift type of person. Well, except for birthdays and when someone I love needs something. To me, 'need' is the crucial aspect. Flowers are nice and so are chocolates, but if there's a book I need for a class, I would rather that someone give me the book for a gift.

And since I am a firm believer in 'do unto others as you do unto yourself', I brought this way of life into my unsuspecting new husband's world of consumerism. Having grown up in a world where Christmas, their culture's biggest festival, is marked more by big gift-exchanges over pure and simple family get-togethers, he was convinced that I was trying to lay down my cultural norms over his (Occasionally, I do admit that I am guilty of that particular attribute. Ref: earlier post about Indians and our views of other cultures).

However, festivals across the world have been fast turning into yet another platform for gift-exchange over togetherness. If one is in India on Diwali, it is quite unnerving to see people show off their wealth and status by bursting large quantities of expensive firecrackers. Of course, in addition to the extravagant gifts and clothes. If one is in the U.S. for Christmas, the display of wealth is in the hordes of frantic shoppers that are cramming their bags full at the Christmas sales.

And the quaint old idea of togetherness. The idea of spending a couple of days with families either draws a weary sigh and expressions of the need for alcohol in the West. And complaints and high levels of competitiveness in the East.

My assessment: traditions, you lose but corporations, you win.