Shefali Vaidya. 🇮🇳 Profile picture
Oct 5, 2021 11 tweets 7 min read Read on X
#thread #minimalism a friend had shared this meaningful meme, a picture with the legend, ‘the less you own, the less it owns you’. It was a powerful statement; one that has stayed with me. @jeetsingharya @BastarDistrict @sundar_IPS @rajat4bansal #bastarkibaate #minimalism
There is a lot of talk these days about minimalism, particularly among the neo-rich urban crowd who are burdened with the ‘problem of plenty’. We live in a society that celebrates consumption and accumulation. I myself am a hoarder of all things handmade and beautiful.
As a result, my home feels like a museum and my closet is overflowing with beautiful, hand-woven sarees. But even beauty is bondage. I realise that now, as I take my baby steps on the long road of #अनासक्ती
Minimalism is a tool that can assist you in finding freedom. Freedom from fear. Freedom from worry. Freedom from being overwhelmed. Freedom from the trappings of the consumer culture we’ve built our lives around.
The original Indian lifestyle has always been minimalistic. All of us have grown up in homes were reduce, reuse, recycle was a way of life. I realised that once again, very powerfully this time, when I visited a tribal home in a village in #Bastar.
The home was fairly large, four specious rooms, with a generous sit out outside. There was one shelf for pictures of Gods and rows upon rows of corn cobs and bamboo shoots smoking over a mitti ka chulha.
The kitchen consisted of a chulha and a shelf fitted into the wall that displayed vessels. The family was #atmanirbhar in almost all their needs. There was a traditional wooden flour mill, a hen coop fashioned out of bamboo, and a thatched cow shed.
The matriarch kept a benign but watchful eye on babies as adults went about their daily chores. They brewed their own liquor from Mahua flowers, grew their own vegetables. Plates and glasses were fashioned out of leaves. Everything was natural, handmade and beautiful.
There were no electronics in the home, not even the ubiquitous TV, though some adults had their own smartphones. The home is electrified and one room had a fan. But other than that, we could have been in a different world, a world free from the tyranny of consumerism.
I cannot imagine being this minimalist, but the few hours I spent in their home made me take a long hard look at my own lifestyle. I pride myself on being a conscious consumer, but this encounter with the tribal culture made me realise how much I need to declutter.
Maybe for the tribal family, this culture of minimalism is not out of choice, maybe given an option, they would choose consumerism. Maybe it is a lifestyle thrust upon them by tradition and lack of opportunities.

Maybe.

But the contentment I felt in the place was real!

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More from @ShefVaidya

May 23
Even as the Jewish state of #Israel is in a state of turmoil following the brutal terr0r attacks by #Hamas in October last year, I sat inside the cool, quiet interiors of the #pardesisynagogue of Kochi and thought about the Jewish kingdom that existed in Bharat for centuries in peace, in Cranganore near Kochi. @danielocarmon @KobbiShoshani #AmIsraelChaiImage
2000 years of Jewish history in Kerala has been depicted in ten paintings displayed at the #kochi synagogue, that talk about how the Jews landed in Bharat soon after the destruction of their second temple by the Romans. While the exact date is open to debate, Jewish historians believe that Jewish people landed in Bharat as early as in 72 CE!Image
The Jewish kingdom of Cranganore, also known as Shingly, holds a remarkable place in the history of the Jewish diaspora. Cranganore (modern-day Kodungallur) served as an important Jewish settlement for close to a 1000 years! The Hindu Chera kings welcomed the Jewish refugees as honoured citizens.Image
Read 8 tweets
Dec 27, 2022
#thread on ‘inter-faith’ murders that were reported in India over the last ONE MONTH. 1) The case we all know - #AftabPoonawalla kiIIing his live-in partner #ShraddhaWalkar and cutting her body into 35 parts! This happened after two years of physical abuse and threats to murder.
Within a week of #ShraddhaWalkar’s murder, #NidhiGupta was pushed from a 4th floor terrace to her death by her ‘stalker’ Mohd Sufiyan because she refused to convert for him. Nidhi was only 19!
22 year old #Rabita, a tribal girl from a very small mountain tribe in Jharkhand was chopped into 50 parts by her husband Dildar and his family, within 10 days of her ‘marriage’. Dildar was already married.
Read 7 tweets
Aug 14, 2022
#ChanderiChronicles #thread The beautiful town of Chanderi, surrounded by the Vindhyachala ranges is one of the best kept secrets of @MPTourism. The town sits low below a ridge that is crowned by the magnificent #Chanderi fort.
When we say #Chanderi, most of us textile enthusiasts think of the diaphanous, light-as-air Chanderi sarees, a fabric known for its subtle jari motifs and gossamer thin translucence that made Chanderi the favourite of erstwhile royal families of Rajasthan, MP and Maharashtra
But there is so much more to #Chanderi. Once known as Chandrapuri and Chedi Nagri, the town of Chanderi and the countryside around it formed a part of the Chedi kingdom. Chandrapuri is believed to be the capital of Vakradanta, the father of Shishupal mentioned in the Mahabharat.
Read 14 tweets
Apr 23, 2022
#Thread Idi0t’s Guide to #NoBindiNoBusiness, for the trolls who deliberately misinterpret the hashtag n the thought behind it. Repeat after me, #No_Bindi_No_Business is about CHOICE. It is not a compulsion, it is not a law. It is about the right of the ordinary Hindu to say NO!
When brands advertise for Hindu festivals like #AkshayaTritiya #Ugadi #Deepavali #GaneshChaturthi it is a reasonable expectation that they should respect the consumer’s culture, traditions, symbols. A bindi/Tilak/sindoor is one of the prominent Hindu symbols #NoBindiNoBusiness
If a brand wants Hindu money, the brand HAS to respect Hindu sentiments. The ads have to reflect the Hinduness, the joy, the spiritual significance of the festival. You want Hindus to buy gold from you for #AkshayaTritiya then show respect to Hindu culture. #NoBindiNoBusiness
Read 7 tweets
Apr 22, 2022
#Thread This is for the outrage brigade who froth at the mouth 24/7 abusing RSS/VHP/BJP/Modi, everyone, while pretending to be ‘Hindu activists’. If you are a @BJP4India voter, you have every right to question/criticise this govt. But why the tirade against @RSSorg?
As the name suggests, RSS is a volunteer driven org. They don’t owe anyone anything. They work on ground. They have different Sewa projects from orphanages to old age homes to #gharwapsi programmes to intervening in #lovejihad cases. Do you support them in any way?
Do you give your money/time/contacts to any of these causes? Do you at least provide intellectual cover to the parivar organisations that work on the ground for Hindus? Do you write articles covering their Sewa work? Do you defend them when they are attacked by the left?
Read 5 tweets
Jan 26, 2022
The responses to this thread were phenomenal. Collating them all together in replies to this tweet. Do check them out. #OurTrueHistory. It made this #RepublicDay very special for me. Congratulations to all the winners and participants. Watch out for the next context on 15th Aug.
A thread by @MumukshuSavitri on Vijayanagara empire and the role of women.
A wonderful thread on the brick temple of Bhitargaon, one of the earliest Hindu temples of India #OurTrueHistory
Read 8 tweets

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