No Gift Policy

Every year for Dhatri's b'day party, we request friends not to bring any gifts for Dhatri. I know that almost everybody that I know is used to giving gifts on occasions like this, and it rather feels odd to go empty handed to a party. I myself feel it odd, but when I think about it in bigger context, I don't mind it at all. But I at least owe an explanation to all my guests for making them feel that way. So here it is..

Impact on resources

Our world population is almost 7 billions. When I fly, I look at the vast land beneath me and think that there is no problem of running out of resources, but I know that it is just plain ignorance, and perhaps a convenient way to justify our unsustainable and irresponsible lifestyles.
Polluting chemicals due to manufacturing have already reached the polar regions. If you care about the future generation, now is the time to question your consumption patterns. Here is an excellent video to educate people about how consumption negatively effects everything else.
The story of stuff

"We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children" Navajo Proverb.

Non biodegradable stuff

Most of kids gifts these days are made of plastic. The cute "educational/fun" plastic toy will live on forever in a landfill. I know, you did see some plastic stuff in my home, but most of it is stuff I bought used on craigslist. In my opinion, that's better than buying brand new stuff.

Unmanageable living space

It is a tough job to keep everything back in its place when there are so many toys. there actually is "no place assigned" for a given toy because there simply are too many toys.

Materialism and the culture of expectations

Kids should be able to value friendships more over the gifts they bring.

Money that could be spent on better causes

I don't mind donating money(donation in-lieu-of gifts) for some cause, but Raghu doesn't like that idea. He feels that we shouldn't be asking others to donate money and should leave it to their will.

Stress of buying a meaningful gift

Buying a gift for another person is always stressful for me. Unless you know what the other person has and what he wants, you can't buy a good gift. Yes, there are gift receipts, but getting it exchanged is stressful for the recipient. It may not be stressful, it is time consuming at least.