The Hindu : International : Top Christmas gifts

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Dec 24, 2004

International

International

Top Christmas gifts

LONDON: If the triumph of consumerism means — to abuse the opening lines of the Communist Manifesto — that all history is a history of Christmas presents, then this year's hottest gifts tell us something very revealing about British society. Specifically, the dialectics of a modern Christmas are contained in the apparent opposites of the two most fashionable gifts of the current season. On one side is the highest of hi-tech in the form of a digital personal music player. On the other, it doesn't come much more low-tech than giving a goat for Christmas. The hi-tech end of the scale is best represented by the extremely popular Apple iPod — retailing at around £180 for its cheapest `mini' version in one of four fetching colours [assuming you can still find one in the shops, which at this stage you cannot.] According to development agencies such as Oxfam and Cafod, the chance to pay £25 or so for a needy community in Africa to receive a goat has proved to be far more popular this Christmas than anyone would have predicted. , The British public has been less willing to fund overseas development charities, but the ``goats for Africa'' scheme has succeeded by tapping into the traditional national love of animals.—

Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

International

News Update

Stories in this Section