Living rooms are spaces that live and breathe with you. The places that are first visible when you enter the threshold of your abode. The places that work as your face, and thus, serve the dual function of being an open invitation as well as an ode to your success. These spaces are a tangible fifth dimension of a person’s collective baggage.
Most of us NRIs subconsciously utilize these spaces to tell the world that we have indeed, arrived. We left our motherland behind, carrying our dreams and a few meager possessions in a couple of usually tattered bags, with nothing more than big ambitions in our eyes and a dollop of fear in our hearts. “Look at us now,” we want to say through our living rooms, “we achieved every dream we dared to, and more. Yes, we sacrificed, but it was worth the price!” All the symbols of success are then classically displayed on the walls and shelves of the living rooms – certificates, awards, trophies, children’s medals, sports pictures.
Another common aspect in the living rooms of most NRIs is the souvenirs purchased from the many foreign trips we now take. The child who grew up in a middle-class family, whose idea of a vacation was a trip to the local zoo, or, if they were ‘rich’, then a trip to a nearby hill station, usually in the second-class compartment of a passenger train, can now afford international flight tickets, once a distant luxury! Of course we want to brag. And yet, many of us want to ‘flex’ without bragging. We want our living rooms to “show our success, not shout about it,” a successful NRI quipped to me. That’s what I help you with, holding your hand as you work through what truly reflects you, your definition of success, without turning your living room into a museum of accomplishments.
And while we journey through your moments, I’ll cheer you on, hold your hand as you reminisce, and nudge you towards what’ll help you create your dream living room. The images are meant to inspire and encourage you. Happy browsing, happy minimizing.
The Minimalist NRI 