Read the given passage and answer the questions
Today’s kids can identify with none of the traditional toys. If it’s a girl, she’s busy adding to her Barbie collection, if it’s a boy there’s Tartan or Superman or even Sony’s Play station for him. Toy carts have made way for black and gold Ferraris and Lamborghinis. As for the cartwheels and windmills, few kids would know what you are talking of.
Many parents feel that children cannot even differentiate between toys that are Indian and foreign. All that matters is that they should be familiar figures or trendy playthings, as seen on television. In a market-driven economy, toy manufacturers are only cashing on this trend.
The fallout from this is two-fold: one, the death of India’s toy-making tradition, and two, the influences of an alien culture on a child’s mind. That is why some social activists have begun campaigning for a ban on what they describe as ‘western toys’.
“Indian toys are not only part of an art tradition but also contribute to the well-rounded growth of an individual’s personality;’ explains Vaidchi Thakkar, a child specialist. “Besides, they are environment-friendly since we have a custom of making toys from biodegradable material.”
Makers of toys from wood, paper and cloth are also complaining about diminishing clientele and the gradual extinction of a form, but they find themselves completely powerless in countering the popularity of machine-made toys.
“They are backed by big companies with big money. Whereas we are artists struggling to make ends meet.” says Udham Singh, who sells trinkets and balloons on Bombay's powerments. “What can we do if people are determined to corrupt their children’s tastes’?”
One argument seeking ban on ‘western toys” is they have harmed the toy-making tradition in India. The other argument is:
- western toys are machine made
- western toys are very expensive
- western toys are not eco-friendly
- western toys represent an alien culture
