Kids as fashionistas?

Kids clothing? There was a time, even till 5 years ago, when kids clothing were either hand-me-downs from siblings or reasonably priced but good looking clothes from the neighbourhood clothes stores. Kids were meant to be well behaved and groomed but it did not mean attired in costly brands from abroad.

Today, kids are attending fashion shows? Wearing jeans, that too denim which are torn at the knee worth Rs.25,000. They go to parlours??? Kids apparel business is apparently big business in India now and every company worth its name in salt across the world is setting shop in India. Parents are splurging obscene amounts of money on kids clothes – probably wanting to give the kids what they did not get. But this is coming at a big cost – literally and figuratively.

One cannot help but lament at this loss of childhood. What are we creating – children who are into consumerism and all things material, bothered about fashion and looking good from the age of 3 and 4? Is this what we call smart childhood today? Children play less, are hooked to computer games, majority have spectacles before the age of ten while respect for elders and obedience has gone out for a toss. Really, what are we raising? A dysfunctional society for the future?

Let’s keep the innocence of childhood intact. Let the children get dirty, play in the mud, kick a ball, scream in joy and understand how to life live in balance with nature. Please lets not make them billboards for foreign brands.