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If my mother met Marie Kondo
Photo by Jason Leung on Unsplash
Marie Kondo reminds me of my mom. Petite, photogenic Marie, with her perfect hair and business savvy is nothing like my pleasantly plump, saree-clad, stay at home mother. To paraphrase a cliché, Marie and Amma are as different as sushi and curry. What connects them, is a passion for tidying up.
When Marie walks into spacious American homes to help people sort through their cluttered living spaces, I am reminded of my childhood home in Mumbai, a sparsely furnished, tiny apartment that measured five hundred and fifty square feet and housed my parents, two brothers and grandmother. Pure and simple lack; of money, of space, of resources; dictated our minimalistic lifestyle.
‘A place for everything and everything in its place’, Amma’s mantra, was implemented through a set of rigorously deployed rules that began with the kitchen. She ordered quantities of household staples like rice and flour that lasted a month, a pragmatic approach that optimized space and minimized deterioration and wastage in Mumbai’s heat and humidity.
Limited space meant limited possessions and therefore the cardinal rule — first out, then in. Before we could ask for a new item, we had to truthfully answer three questions:
- Do you need it?
- Can you still use it?
