For the love of 'Khitchri'

‘Less is more’, a term you might have heard of, but maybe are unaware of it's origins. It was first popularised into the world of Architecture, by the famous modernist German-American Architect, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Since then this aphorism has been used alot by the world in reference to not just Architecture but all aspects of life.

You must have also heard the term 'minimalism', which stems from the same concept. The idea is to simplify and minimise everything. But then it is one thing to love the concept and another to implement it.

If you look around, especially in this part of the world you will realise that our love for embellishments is deeply rooted. Let’s look at weddings for example- they are extravagant. The details that go into the decoration of the halls, the lighting, the stage, the food, the clothes and the jewellery that people wear, not forgetting the bride. I mean, there is not one space on her body which is left out without a glittering-something literally blinding us. Poor bride actually disappears somewhere under all this fuss. So in the case of weddings I would say ‘more is definitely more’. We just love going over the top.

Now let’s look at our homes, beginning inside. You shall not find one corner, or a tiny space that celebrates its emptiness or freedom but is surely occupied with an object of some kind. Leaving it vacant would be worse than death I suppose.

So I wonder how many decorations does one need anyway? Let’s now open our wardrobes. I am sure many of you will have stuff in there which you might not have used in years. Simply put, I think we are hoarders. We just need all that unnecessary junk to make us feel happy or fulfilled. Think about it, why do we need 5 pairs of black shoes or 15 bags in every colour? Why do we need 5 white shirts?

Let’s not forget the facade of our houses. I mean we just don’t know where to end, do we. We will have all the patterns and architectural elements from all eras of history til date, and mishmash it into that one poor elevation. So the philosophy we live by in this country is more is more is more is more………. Is more. Nothing less.

Could it be that our favourite food for the sick is' khitchri'. There's got to be a connection.

Now you wonder how did this topic pop into my mind, well it occurred to me while I was trying to evaluate my own photographic work. And what I noticed is that my work is not that simple either, it is often tilting towards being complicated.

I have come to understand that I can say a lot by not saying much. I really want to work towards the 'less is more' philosophy. And try implement it in other aspects of my life too. Though I am not sure if I will be successful, as I too come from this same khitchri loving society.