Small treats like these.....
I had a slice of black forest cake from Monginis after such a long time.
Still remember the days when our (building friends') birthdays were celebrated with a cream cake from Monginis , potato wafers, samosa or batata wada and rasna. We were happy with that too and we were not given any choices. We decorated a single wall with festoons and balloons and clicked group pictures in front of it. We just invited our building friends. We enjoyed the little party and were thrilled with whatever gifts we got. The return gift was not mandatory and if given, it was something common like a pencil box, plastic water bottle or tiffin box.
In my house we never celebrated birthdays like this. My amma just prepared something special for all of us. We didn't have birthday parties at all. It was a new concept for us. Later when we had kids we celebrated our kids birthdays on a small scale as mentioned above.
Nowadays little kids have themed parties at rented halls or at McDonalds or Pizza Hut. They dress up according to the theme decided. Birthday cards are distributed. They also have takeaway gifts that are customised. Selected school friends are invited and it is a huge affair. Parents go all out to compete with each other to have a grand party. Some have movie screenings, magic shows and game hosts to conduct the party. The sad part is they keep comparing each other's parties and feel let down when others give away more expensive takeaway gifts. They also make fun of gifts that are not expensive enough according to them. In the end it is just a competition among parents to show who has more money power.
In the end, it is all the choices we make. Time is changing after all. Trends keep changing too.
