Death Cleaning

  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.