You’re decluttering all wrong

I tried for years to persuade my brother that there could be no justification for owning 12000 books and magazines that he would almost certainly never read That number is a guesstimate it might have been 15000 or even more His collection was so large that he had erected bookshelves along the corners where the walls met the ceilings The books were browned musty wellthumbed many of them colonised by silverfish but intactI urged him to review his collection which included a wall full of National Geographic Life Esquire Punch Playboy and Wired among others and ask himself one question What are the chances I will ever read this particular publication againI failed every time collectors like him donrsquot like such questions Not only had he read every printed word he owned but he also carried a complete indexed catalogue in his head Ask him when Tom Wolfe in an interview mentioned a riveting description of butter melting on toast and hersquod fish out the exact Playboy issue open on the right pageWhen he passed away in 2017 the bittersweet duty of disposing of his countless magazines and nearly 5000 books fell to me We finally found a bookshop that would accept all my brotherrsquos books and even create a special corner for him named after him in memoriamAlso read Nationalism mutates in FIFA World CupTodayrsquos minimalists might not have been very happy with the state of the house where my brother lived and died Marie Kondo queen of the decluttering empire would also certainly have disapprovedKondo Japanese 38 and also known as KonMari has written four books on getting rid of your lifersquos junk which have sold millions of copies If something doesnrsquot ldquospark joyrdquo in you you should throw it away she says If itrsquos a memento from a broken relationship or a sad memory she insists you should trash itLuckily for me I turn my nose up at Marie Kondo and her empire I also have some seriously offbeat views about decluttering and minimalismIt doesnrsquot need saying you canrsquot take it with you when you die The less you have the less you have to take care of The happiest travellers are the ones who travel light Learn to make do with less Material clutter interferes with spiritual transcendenceHowever to throw away things you donrsquot need you first have to afford to buy things you donrsquot need To those unknown and untold crores of Indians living at the bottom of the barrel unable to afford clutter in the first place decluttering and minimalism are meaningless They are mandatory minimalists earning minimal incomes finding joy in the little grains that come their way They live as Marie Kondo preacheswanting nothing more than to one day happily get a little missing clutter into their bleak livesMarie Kondorsquos decluttering is for a rather more elite crowd and itrsquos about things you own In an age of conspicuous material consumption by the newly rich it should be no surprise that decluttering and minimalism are trending However what makes people miserable is not whatrsquos in their homes but whatrsquos in their headsIrsquom waiting for a new Marie Kondo to tell us how to declutter our minds and be more minimal in thought deed and expression Here are areas of complete mental clutter that could do with a small dustingThe social media posts that you mindlessly scroll through liking and followingThe food shots and selfies you have an opinion on and are willing to argue aboutThe unverified facts that clutter your mind and which you are willing to stuff other minds withThe lsquonetworkrsquo of instant lsquofriendshipsrsquo with people yoursquove never seen and never willThe swamp of old and wornout ideas and opinions that you still passionately defendThe number of pointless conversations you will have because you donrsquot want to look ignorant or rudeItrsquos a long list and I was just getting warmed up thereMy mind is far from decluttered or minimal I think too many thoughts that have no business being in my head My answers to even simple questions have too many words and my questions donrsquot know where they should end There are mornings when the same thoughts crowd and churn in my head impossible to dismiss or silenceYet finding economy and simplicity in my thoughts words and deeds is the only minimalism that makes sense to me todayTherersquos an old joke about a Scandinavian couple married for decades who used to go for a daily walk mostly in silence since Scandinavians are not very talkative On their 25th wedding anniversary she said to him with a hint of reproach ldquoOlafyou never tell me you love merdquoHe pondered this for five minutes as they walked and then said ldquoAstridremember the day we got marriedrdquoShe noddedldquoOn that day I told you I love yourdquoShe nodded smiling and rememberingldquoSordquo said Olaf ldquoHow many times do you want me to tell you the same thingrdquoYou can reach C Y Gopinath at cygopigmailcomSend your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper