En Route To Nothingness
Why The Pursuit Of Minimalism Is A Very Meaningful Journey
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Black holes are where God divided by zero — Albert Einstein
The great Mahatma Gandhi (father of modern India) had this to say about truth and non-violence: “I have nothing new to teach the world. Truth and Non-Violence are as old as the hills”.
To me, Gandhi is a symbol of minimalism. Clad in a single piece of cloth, Gandhi wasn’t by any means a wealthy man at least towards the end of his life. He was born in a well to do family but he renounced material possessions towards the end. Gandhi adopted the Indian loincloth, or short dhoti and, in the winter, a shawl, both woven with yarn hand-spun on a traditional Indian spinning wheel, or charkha (wikipedia).
Almost in the same vein as Gandhi’s own experience (because there is very little that’s new that I offer), my own limited take on ‘minimalism’ can be very similar to what the movement espouses. There are so many blogs, books, ideas and perspectives on the topic that the word ‘minimalism’ is trite. However, my own experiments with minimalism (learnings from which have been reinforced by my life during the ongoing CoVID-19 pandemic) provide a deeply personal glimpse of how powerful minimalism as a way of life truly is. I write this story in the hope that perhaps it helps my readers in their own journey towards the final destination to which all of us are headed. Sooner or later.
When I Had Nothing
Of course, I was born with nothing. But, I was born in a family that gave me everything. Yet, I was hungry. Let me explain. I was born in a wealthy family in Gujarat (western India). My home was a lovely Bungalow with more rooms than people living in it. I had a courtyard filled with jamun (Black Plum) trees. During the monsoons, I would see peacocks dance on the rooftop. In short, it was a happy existence. The square feet concept of space never entered my lexicon until we migrated to a metropolis.
