I just turned sixteen in January. Notice that I didn’t say sweet sixteen; that’s because I didn’t have one. No big party, no Diddy or Flo Rida, no cars, nothing. Well, I can’t really say nothing because I did have a tiny party, but where … the temple (I’ll get to that later). But MTV is a bad, bad show. Though some realities series are beyond annoying, but addicting (anyone seen The Hills?), but the worst of them all is Sweet Sixteen. It shows outrageous parents giving even more outrageous parties to their over-spoiled “angels.” I really wanted to have Coldplay or Linkin Park on my “sweet sixteen,” but before going to my parents with my “bambi eyes” and “sad face” I thought through it.
I wondered … with people losing their jobs, homes, and basically their lives, should I be spending thousands and thousands of dollars for a party that people will come to, enjoy, leave and then forget about once an even bigger party comes? Also, my dad is the breadwinner in my family and my mom tries to take care of us (which is a pretty hard job). It would be pretty stupid to do so, so I decided not to have one of those MTV “I-can-spend-more-than-you-on-my-sweet-sixteen” episodes. After realizing that, I realized how many other things are pointless as well, such as going to the mall every month or watching the latest movie (unless it’s batman … then I’m sorry).
So after my enlightened-moment-at-such-a-young-age, my parents decided to have my birthday in the mandir (Hindi word for temple, for all that didn’t know). We sponsored the food for a Sunday and I brought my closest out of closest friends to come. It was really cool because my best friend, who is Muslim and had never stepped inside a temple, came too! I was ecstatic! It was a wonderful experience overall and I’m glad I decided to spend my most “precious” birthday there.
It made me realize that how you don’t need materialistic things to survive. As cheesy as cheese this can get, but honestly, you only need your family and friends and God to tackle the tasks given to you. As we see hope for a better tomorrow in the recession-plagued America, remember, we can overcome this together; united as one.
