I came to know about `Death Cleaning` through a Forward I read in a WA group. The contents appealed to me as an Octogenarian. Since I believe I am on the last lap of my life journey and my 42-year-old independent home in Chennai is going for redevelopment, the idea assumed a sense of urgency. I learned that death cleaning is a method of decluttering your home before you die to lessen the burden on your loved ones after you have passed. So that they don't curse you after you depart from the world for making them go through all the junk you have accumulated over the years.
During my recent trip to Chennai, I decided to extend my
stay for a month so that I could get rid of things that have lost their use or
relevance and also donate useful items to deserving people or
institutions, which otherwise would go under the bulldozer when the old
building is being demolished.
I had already started the process by giving away my dresses,
clothes, electronic waste, etc. to an NGO collecting such items during a
campaign they held a few months ago. I have also identified an institution to
which I propose donating my huge book collection.
During the current clean up I found leather-bound
appointment diaries, old bank statements, statements of accounts, old income
tax returns, used cheque books, etc. covering a period of 50 years.
Shocking but true. I discovered many press cuttings carefully filed in folders,
not only covering my original articles on my profession but also many which I
thought would be useful to me at a later date. I had also retained hundreds of
magazines in which my articles had appeared. Getting rid of these and many
other unnecessary files and folders was the easiest decision. While most of
them went to the raddhiwala, many sensitive documents were burnt.
Going through the old photo albums covering 82 years of my
life was a pleasure, It helped me go down memory lane and remember the things I
did with family and friends. I have always found going down memory lane
therapeutic and a great stress buster. Something which I experienced when I was
writing my autobiography. Fortunately, I did not have to take any action on
this item as my children wanted to go through them before they were junked.
Clearing the loft in the kitchen area I discovered scores of
old brass & steel utensils that were used by my mother when she was active
in the kitchen. Two big ceramic Jars in which my mother used to store pickles
prepared by her stood out in the collection. My elder daughter promptly claimed
them as she saw their potential use in her terrace garden. Once a decision is
made about what utensils to be retained by the family, the rest would go to the
Kabadiwala who has promised to give cash based on the weight of the different
types of utensils.
I think I have managed to identify and get rid of items that
I had collected over the years. I am leaving the decision to deal with the rest
of the items like furniture, fixtures, gifts, mementos,curios collected during
my several foreign trips and other paraphernalia in the house to the family.
Through this process, I am hoping that I will get less or no
curses from my near and dear ones after I pass away.
