On hoarding

I took another stab at cleaning house a couple of weeks ago with a vengeance. After having emptied a number of drawers and closets on the floor, I set about deciding what to keep and which items need to go.

Each item had to make it past two filters to stay. One, it had to have been used at least once in the last year, and two, there was no similar item that had been purchased later as a replacement or upgrade to this one.

I have often joked about how Americans keep their hundred-thousand-dollar cars outside on the driveway and store useless junk in their garages. As Indians, we are getting there fast. With incomes rising and our generation being a little more liberal with our spending, we have been collecting stuff at a worrisome rate. It gets worse. Our Indian mindset of reuse and recycle has a serious downside; we are unable to throw old stuff away. We hoard it on the off chance that we might need it some day. I was amazed at how much junk has been collecting in our garage over the years. I am going to clean out the place this summer and I plan to do it ruthlessly. There is stuff in there that has not been used for 20 years and yet we have been unable to throw it away or give it away.

I realized a few days ago why hotel rooms feel so luxurious. It might have less to do with the interior decor and more to do with how uncluttered they are. The night-stand next to the bed has a lamp and an alarm clock and nothing else. The desk has one folder with hotel brochures and nothing else. The bathroom has only one set of toiletries neatly arranged in a drawer or a wicker tray and no more. The towel rack has 2 towels and no more and the closet has one bathrobe and a few hangers.

Now imagine trying to place the magazine you have been reading at bedtime on the night stand next to your bed at home. Mine has a lamp, a phone, 3 chargers and mobile phones, books, the contents of my pockets that I emptied there that evening, a comb, assorted envelopes and some bubble wrap that came with my last amazon purchase. You get the picture. Ditto with our kitchen cabinet surface. The interior decorator had shown us a 3D rendering with just three things on the surface; a microwave oven, a toaster and a vase. I don't need to tell you how many items are on there now.

I would have liked to have believed that I am not a hoarder; the evidence has not been encouraging.