It’s been over a year since I read an interesting story in Time magazine about “The minimalists”. And the story has stayed with me since. The story was about people who say they live more consciously and meaningfully. So the focus is less on material possessions and more on the important things: experiences, friends, travel and so on. Steve Jobs was a minimalist.
Interestingly, the movement seems to be catching the world over. USA led the way and now the trend is definitely catching on. China, and now Japan joins in as well. An interesting story in Reuters in June this year spoke about how the minimalistic movement in Japan in catching up.
A simple Google search on the topic will not just lead you to many minimalists but will also guide you on how to start living like one, to the various benefits of it all.
The idea, like most, of course, can be cultivated and moulded to suit oneself. For there are hard-core minimalists and then there are the ones who are merely interested in it.
Mahatma Gandhi, whose birth anniversary we celebrate on October 2, spoke of aprigraha, non-collection, several decades ago. After all, he was a visionary — a man whose vision and life values made not just India, but the world sit up and take notice. This frail-looking man had immense strength of thought and action.
But I’m not advocating minimalism here. I would, however, like to use this opportunity and gently urge you to focus on what is important in life. With the festive season around, let’s focus on experiences rather than possessions. I would say, go on a holiday with your family rather than burn crackers worth thousands. Or, before you buy something new, ask yourself if you really need it and if you do, give away something to someone that you haven’t used for the past four months. If you haven’t used it for that long, most times it means you can spare it.
Aparigraha can be answer to many problems in the society indeed.
Taking Bapu’s thoughts ahead we have our columnist, the very experienced, Air Commodore Prashant Dikshit (Retd) and his understanding of Bapu.
On our cover this time, we have the very talented Anushka Shankar. A brilliant performer and a young woman who lives life on her terms. Our take on the power of pink.
Focus on what is important and drive away the fluff!