Simple living is better living
By Taru Bahl

DOWNSHIFTING, also known as simple living or voluntary simplicity, is now touted as a remedy for the American society. With the incidence of broken families, mentally and emotionally distraught teenagers, juvenile delinquency skyrocketing, this was perhaps inevitable. Twenty one-year-old John Baskin, heir apparent to the Baskin Robbins ice-cream empire, recently renounced his claim to the family conglomerate saying, "Among my parents’ friends were some of the wealthiest people in the world, who were also the most neurotic. I learnt first-hand that acquiring material possessions is a total distraction."

However, a majority of Indians remain mesmerised by the ultimate American Dream. Not for us the Wordsworthian advice of plain living and high thinking. We don’t get inspired by Gandhi, Tolstoy, Mother Teresa, William Blake, John Milton, St Francis, Pascal, Thoreau, and Emerson. They were the people who simplified their lives in order to engage in philosophy, religious devotion, artistic creation, revolutionary politics, humanitarian service and ecological activism.

But we are ambitious. We think, dream and plan big. If we want to be on the fast track, we are willing to slog it out. Who can then deny us our right to freedom, luxury and the trappings of a finer life?

The world, no doubt, loves a achiever. So, cultivate a winning attitude, devour "how to improve yourself" books, procure the latest degrees and diplomas, and secure a job in a sector which promises a meteoric rise. Further, befriend people who can add value to your persona and make sure your name figures on the guest lists of the city’s Who’s Who. Together with this, go in for a personality overhaul by hiring image consultants and cosmetologists. And, finally, hire a PR consultant who can splash your pictures, interviews and pearls of wisdom in society, lifestyle and business publications.

There, the entire world now knows that you have arrived. You are an achiever with success written all over. You are unstoppable. Your energy, drive, vision and ambition are going to ensure that you only go from strength to super strength.

But, what is this? You can’t sit back and revel in the after-glow of hard-earned success? You and your picture-perfect family fail to add to your happiness. Your five-star doctor tells you that you face the risk of an early burn-out. He also has the gumption to prescribe a no-fat, no-spice diet, insisting you slow down, while you are still young, energetic and raring to go. You don’t find time to enjoy a simple sunset, a home-cooked meal, or an evening with an old aunt.

Are you going to use up all your grey matter trying to evolve strategies to topple wily competitors, back-stabbing colleagues and fair-weather socialite friends? Why do you find it difficult to trust people and always doubt their intent and motive? Why are you losing sleep, trying to find ways of evading the taxman? In spite of all the trappings of affluence and comfort, why do you find yourself lonely, dissatisfied, isolated, ‘friendless’ and unhappy?

Is it a case of too much too soon? Or is "more" not necessarily enough to keep your body-mind-heart in perfect harmony? "Less is more," say those for whom small has become beautiful. They view luxury with hostility and riches with suspicion. They revere nature, prefer rural to urban and desire personal self-reliance through frugality and diligence. They believe in conscientious rather than conspicuous consumption and have an aesthetic taste for the functional. The common denominator is that making money and accumulating things should not be allowed to smother the purity of the soul, life of the mind, cohesion of the family and the common good.

Now the concept of simple living need not be one which is necessarily boring, unexciting and bereft of modern comforts. You don’t have to sweat it out when you have an air conditioner. You certainly don’t have to use a bus when you have a scooter and you don’t have to smoke a bidi, wear a dhoti-kurta just to make a ‘simple’ point. Simplicity is not a fad. Stylish simplicity, rusticity or the going-back-to-the-roots phenomenon may be fashionable but it cannot be genuine, unless it is accompanied by simplicity of your soul.

One is reminded of an incident in an Archie comic. Veronica is in high spirits and all set to leave for the New Year Ball. Just before stepping out she encounters her father and happily asks, "Dad, ain’t I looking gorgeous?" Mr Lodge scans her face and is perplexed. He says, "Why haven’t you used any make up?" Veronica is stumped. She shrieks, "Dad, I spent hours and my entire month’s pocket money to get this ‘natural look’ right and you say I am looking plain".

If simplicity is something that you are using only to make a point, chances are you will end up creating the opposite effect. However, if your simple actions, thoughts, and words stem from simplicity of your soul and heart, you will not only be happy yourself but also touch the lives of those who come in contact with you. You can be rich, beautiful, successful, well-groomed and yet be trusting, genuine and authentic. All you have to do is prioritise.

Distinguish between what is necessary and what is superfluous, between beautiful and vulgar. For, simplicity is more aesthetic than ascetic in its approach to good living. Money or possessions do not corrupt simplicity. But the love of money, the craving for possessions and the prison of activities do. Knowing the difference between personal trappings and personal trap is the key to mastering the fine art of simple living.

It is difficult to quantify the possessions which one must expend in our effort to imbibe the tenets of simple living. One of Mahatma Gandhi’s American friends confessed that it was easy to discard the superfluous clutter in his life and household, but he couldn’t bring himself to part with his collection of books. Gandhi said, "Don’t give it up. As long as you derive inner help and comfort from anything, keep it. If you were to give it up in a mood of self sacrifice or out of a sense of duty, you would continue to want it back and that unsatisfied want would make trouble for you".

Simplicity, for him, was more a state of mind than a particular standard of living. And the ‘good life’ boiled down to a question of degree. Determining and maintaining the correct degree is crucial.

Gandhi, Christ and Tolstoy simplified their lives not just in physical and material terms but also at an emotional and psychological level. They let go feelings of hate, anger, greed and envy. They went beyond their ego-gratification. By living simply, they found the freedom to do what they really wanted to do, be what they wanted to be and fulfil the goals they really wanted to achieve. They continued to grow, learn and evolve and, in the process, found contentment and peace.