Episode 307 : 5 years and counting

On the night of April 8, we were standing at Indira Gandhi Airport with two-and-a-half bags, and over the preceding three weeks, we had ensured that those bags contained practically all our worldly possessions (56kg in all, to be precise).

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My possessions for a week or two were crammed into a pair of saddlebags, a backpack and a tank bag. With these, I rode out of Madras and towards Bangalore on a hot day in April.

That was 5 years ago.

Unlike her, making a fresh start by myself did not involve letting go of as many material possessions. The things I had to get rid off were mostly in my mind.

A guy living by himself in a one-room dwelling doesn't need much. I was sure a minimalistic lifestyle was possible. But my weekend trips to Madras mostly brought back things that I had "temporarily" left behind- music CDs, books, the Worldspace receiver, and some more clothes.

A satellite and woofer speaker system and a DVD player were my initial acquisitions- I needed something to play music while I read books and kept boredom at bay. And after the US trip, I suddenly began to feel that I had outgrown the dwelling though all I added then were two suitcases!

The move to an apartment changed my way of living- I forgot all about minimalism.

Maids display excellent talent in turning dark-coloured shirt collars to shades of white. It made sure a washing machine would be the first thing to procure for the apartment. A refrigerator was the next appliance to come home-I need a place to store all the food I would cook when I get myself a stove.

The stove and cylinder took another year to arrive.

By then, I had already brought back stuff that were lying unused at Madras, most of which were things that the Hyde seniors had purchased in the late 70s when they set up their home for the first time- cots, a dining table sans its chairs and a coat hanger.

I was once told that I hoard junk just like Papa Hyde, except that I "collect electronic junk".

Today I also have two laptops, a wireless router, a digital camera, two film cameras, a mixer, a turntable and an old BPL stereo system. And all the books, CDs and vinyls I bought in the last 5 years.

I sometimes contemplate getting one shelf for the books and one shelf for the CDs and vinyl.

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If I ever move to a smaller apartment or to another city, there will be a lot of things that I will have to get rid of.

But I will never be able to bring it down to 56 kg.