Presenting the right gift to mark occasions

The best gift for a parent is that their child grows up in a safe world. This won’t happen if inequity and poverty aren’t erased. And that, in turn, won’t happen if the middle classes continue to consume the way they do

Yesterday was Father’s Day, an occasion we had no idea about till the last decade or so. I’m not one of those who condemns it. I welcome it as an occasion to think of other such days too: Children’s Day and Mother’s Day. Still, I want to point out the fallacy in celebrating close family by shopping and consuming.

Instead of scurrying to find unique ways to consume on these ‘days,’ shouldn’t we figure out how to celebrate primary relationships in ways that actually sustain life (REUTERS)

The best gift for a parent is that their child grows up in a safe world. This won’t happen if inequity and poverty aren’t erased. And that, in turn, won’t happen if the middle classes continue to consume the way they do. Think of this number from Oxfam International: It will take 941 years for a minimum wage worker to earn as much as a top executive at a garment export company.

This consumption requires gobbling resources: forests must be erased for underground resources or infrastructure. Clean air must be violated. Sand has to be mined, decapitating riverine systems. This only accelerates climate change, wiping out assets. India was left with 14 billion dollars loss by Cyclone Amphan. The poor find it hard to build back, destabilizing the country.

Instead of scurrying to find unique ways to consume on these ‘days,’ shouldn’t we figure out how to celebrate primary relationships in ways that actually sustain life, not reduce it’s quality? Changing social norms about celebrations and expressing affection is key. We should push in that direction, so being a parent or a child is less fraught with anxieties about environmental uncertainty.

(The writer is founder and director Chintan Environmental Research and Action Group