What Makes a Modern Indian Minimalist?
Photo: Karan Madhok
‘The idea is not to renounce the good things in life, but to actually understand them.’. Vipin Labroo argues why India—with its vast inequality, unemployment, and environmental concerns—needs a shot of minimalism in the lifestyles of our burgeoning population.
The first minimalist of the modern world was perhaps Mahatma Gandhi—the father of our nation—who extoled the virtues of a simple and sustained lifestyle. But ‘minimalism’ as a concept presently understood was hardly a fad in India; for centuries, most citizens of the country only had access to the bare minimum resources available to somehow eke out a livelihood. Abstinence and sacrifice may have been extolled as virtues, but it was possible that many Indians didn’t have a choice in the matter.
The rank consumerism of today’s India would have horrified Gandhi, whose frugal and puritan lifestyle embodied minimalism in its purest form. Gandhi’s ideal India was to be a society connected with the earth and the environment, one that took care to not over-exploit resources in the name of progress and modernism. Gandhi certainly walked the walk, too; simply stating, “My life is my message.” India may not have exactly adopted the idyllic village economy model of growth that Gandhi had wanted, but it was certainly never the bastion of consumerism in the first three decades after Independence.
All that changed since the 1990s, when the great Indian middle class truly came into its own in the wake of the economic liberalisation. For perhaps the first time ever, hundreds of millions of Indians were exposed to consumerism in its truest sense. Access to dozens of automobile brands and a host of other luxury consumer goods became commonplace. The newly flush-with-money hordes descended upon fast-food joints, malls, cineplexes and pubs like there was no tomorrow. Traveling abroad was no longer a rare occurrence, and hardly attracted any extra attention.
Then, the internet spawned a whole new culture of instant hedonism which made exhibitionism its leitmotif. Where did the good old traditional Indian concepts of being satisfied with little and renunciation figure in the scheme of things? The surfeit of consumerism led to the rise of minimalism in the West decades before we heard of the term, even though we may have been the world’s foremost practitioners of it—albeit unknowingly.
Minimalism is not about not consuming, but consuming the right things in the right quantities. One example of the right consumption would be experience culture, art, and eco-friendly travel, rather than splurging on overseas trips, designer labels and expensive automobiles.
The idea behind minimalism was to escape the trap of the consumerist society by living a simple life free of superficial and unnecessary mass consumption. Crises like global warming and the ongoing pandemic have reminded us that there is something intrinsically wrong with crass consumerism.
But what about India? Is there any awareness at all among the middle classes and the well-heeled about the terrible consequences of unbridled consumerism? Do we desire to return to a simpler lifestyle, reminiscent of what our not-so-distant forefathers led?
Will our recent love affair with consumerism continue unabated, and will we continue to play catch up with the worst aspects of western decadence, even as people in the West see the merits of walking out of that trap? We Indians certainly need a show of minimalism, if not a wholesale jettisoning of consumerism. Not everyone has received a share of the benefits of economic liberalisation, which has led to an increasing gap between the rich and the poor—a gap further exacerbated by the pandemic. Making a show of one’s material possession and acquisitions puts appalling pressure on those not faring well enough to keep pace.
From a personal perspective, letting go of the toxic culture of constantly keeping up with the Joneses—thanks to the all-pervasive presence of social media—can prove a boon for one’s physical and mental wellness. That this is something that is finally hitting home is borne out by the sheer number of people who undertook ‘workations’ in the Himalaya and other places, far from the madding crowds.
Then there are those early thirty-something techies you hear of from time to time, who give up their well-paid (but soul-destroying) jobs to become full-time travel vloggers or to open a café in peaceful destinations like Rishikesh in the lap of the Himalaya. One also admires the sheer magnitude of the courage displayed by the young scions of some prominent Jain families who renounce the pleasures of the world and become lifelong monks.
India, with its vast inequality, unemployment, and environmental concerns, needs more minimalism, not less. To the economists who harp about more consumption as a path to economic growth and more widespread prosperity, one would say that minimalism is not about not consuming, but consuming the right things in the right quantities. One example of the right consumption would be experience culture, art, and eco-friendly travel, rather than splurging on overseas trips, designer labels and expensive automobiles. The money that one saves from giving up wasteful and conspicuous consumption can be directed towards things like eating organic food, or even acquiring new skills—like learning to play a musical instrument. That will help in making a move to a sustainable economy that does not threaten to irretrievably doom the environment.
The sharing economy of workspaces, homespaces, rideshares, and more are a manifestation of this new way of life. The aversion of millennials to buy homes and cars is proof of this new desire to live a minimalist, but a full life. All this is taking root in India as much as it is in the West, and the signs of that are all around us. This needs to be encouraged, nurtured and supported till it catches the imagination of all young Indians. They can grow the nation and its economy to ever greater heights by changing the paradigm of consumption altogether.
A precursor of what can be achieved by the youth of this country is the accelerated growth of the tech industry. Technology cuts down clutter, enhances efficiencies and delivers convenience at a fraction of the usual cost. This has transformed the lives of a large section of the Indian youth before our eyes. Minimalism, when practised across sectors of the economy, can reallocate resources to where they are most needed and ultimately lead to the emergence of a new virtuous ecosystem that benefits all.
At least, that is the hope.
For now, in a social media obsessed and increasingly hyper materialistic society of self-imagined elites, minimalism is but a passing breeze, noticed and cherished only the very few. Let’s hope this changes soon. Minimalism should not be seen as a flavor of the month, as something esoteric that you try for a short while, get bored with, and move on to the next thing. It can be the guiding principle of how our young may approach life for true growth: personal, spiritual and material.
The idea is not to renounce the good things in life, but to actually understand them. Minimalism is not a fad at all for those who understand it and value it, and their numbers are growing. Following this path would truly put us on Gandhi’s footprints. As with most things in India, change may come slowly; but when it does, its impact is likely to be far reaching.
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Vipin Labroo is a content creator, author and PR consultant. A member of the Nonfiction Authors Association, he has years of corporate experience working with an eclectic range of clients, writing press releases, articles, blogs, white papers, research reports, website content, eBooks and so on across segments like technology, business & marketing, internet marketing, healthcare, fashion, real estate, travel and so on. You can find him on Twitter: @labroovipin and Instagram: @vipin_labroo.
