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"Did you see those new Levi's pants?"

"I got this new Blackberry phone for my birthday!"

"Oooooo do you know the bride is wearing an 'Ather Shehzad' dress?"

"Mama! I want a new Gucci watch! All my friends have it!"

Do these statements sound familiar?

Yes!

Why?

 Because we have become so materialistic that these brands have become a yardstick by which we measure a person’s worth! Blackberry is for the elite. Sony Ericsson for the middle class businessmen. Samsung E900 for the government employed 17-graders. Nokia 6230 for the street hawkers! How very convenient! So now these social signals allow us to identify like-minded people to befriend them.

When did we become so insensitive? Why is it that all our festivals revolve around shopping, shopping and shopping? Eid, weddings, birthdays, anniversaries…Moreover we do not need an incentive to shop. We are forever ready to empty our wallets at those huge, glittery shopping malls. We believe in the mantra ‘shop till you drop’! And yet we complain of poverty and inflation! On the one hand we protest against rising prices of sugar and flour and on the other we enter the never-ceasing ‘brand’ race! Are we not hypocrites? Is it not time that we act instead of blaming our government for every ill that has ever befallen us?

For that, we can begin by cutting down on our consumption. Perhaps start with not eating out everyday; or compromising on a good-quality dress that does not boast of a designer shop logo; or even using public transport to save petrol-a non-renewable and quickly depleting resource. Moreover, we can discourage the glamorous lifestyle being promoted by the media by protesting against it! I know this sounds difficult because pointing accusing fingers is much easier than real action. Some of you might even be laughing at such a notion. But let me tell you this…it’s not unheard of! Millions of people all over the world are changing their mindset and their consumption oriented lifestyle!

The first baby step towards this ‘simple living’ lifestyle is the ‘Buy Nothing Day’ which will be celebrated on Nov 28^th this year. This day is actually a reaction to ‘Black Friday’-the day after Thanksgiving when the official holiday season starts and shoppers head to department stores for their Christmas shopping.

BND originated in 1991 when an artist Ted Dave-from Vancouver, Canada- realized that he wasted $20 weekly on trifles such as coffees and muffins and that he and others should rethink their spending tendencies! Thus he decided to create Buy Nothing Day.