How my mum taught me to live a clutter-free life

There’s a red tin box on my mother’s bedside table with threads in every colour; it’s for when there’s a slight tear in her blouse or sari, or for minor alterations. She doesn’t like to discard things easily; even when a piece of clothing is no longer wearable, she uses it as a kitchen rag and extends its lifespan by another month or two. I’d like to think that frugality is in her DNA. But it’s more than that. She’s from a generation that only had access to slow and sustainable fashion; it’s her default setting to gravitate to the most exquisite and beautiful handcrafted things, even when it means she may have to wait for them as opposed to buying the next thing that’s available. 

It’s this thoughtful selectiveness that’s become the need of the hour and we need to separate the wheat from the chaff. Fast fashion stores are driving impulse buying by introducing enticing sales and promotions, and new designs every other week. This mad rush to keep up with the “newest” trend is turning us all into hoarders. In big cities our homes are getting smaller while our closets are getting bigger. For many, shopping has become a pastime or a portal for emotional release when we’re having a bad day or feeling vulnerable; of course, that feeling of comfort doesn’t last or lead to deep healing in any way. At best, it’s a quick fix.

The other drawback is that these clothes don’t last for very long because they’re not meant to. We’re feeding into this vicious cycle of buying cheap clothes just so these large corporations can make more profits to continue to make cheap clothes that eventually end up in a landfill. A friend’s brother has even gone to the extent of organising his waste receptacles as: Compost, Paper + Cardboard, Landfill. I wonder if he feels a slight pang of worry each time he throws a plastic wrapper or an old t-shirt into the bin that’s marked ‘landfill’ instead of ‘garbage’. I reckon that’s the point so he becomes more intentional about his purchases.

In a world where we’re constantly bombarded with the Biggest Sale of the Year, if we could stop for just a moment, take a breath and ask ourselves this simple question before every big or small purchase - ‘am I buying this because I truly believe that it’ll add value to my life or is it going to add to the existing clutter’ - our hearts, homes and lives will feel a lot lighter.

At Khara Kapas, our personal values align with those of the brand. Everything in our store can be traced back to the source; from our handcrafted homegrown Indian fabrics to the people who design and turn them into final products. Each piece is thoughtfully crafted and takes days, sometimes weeks to complete. We don’t mind that because we understand that creating anything worthwhile takes time and effort. It’s our way of making space in the world for something beautiful and special.

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