Living in surplus

 Life has changed a lot - pre US and Post US days. 

We live in surplus. There are more clothes , shoes, cosmetics and so many other material things than our need. While returning from US. There are more watches than we need. Ecodrive watches which i had gifted to amma and Hari were not even working because of lack of sunshine /any light for that matter (Each one would be easily worth more than $100) . Many things in this house are unused and we don't even know about it. The Harman Kardon Onyx speaker which was one of Sreettan's fav in US has become a showpice . Coach and Kate Spade handbags which i fancied for a long time while in US lay unused. There are so many shoes and sandals for each of us. There are collectibles and fridge magnets which we have forgotten about and are lying i boxes unopened. A whole knife set which we bought from US lies in Kerala. There are so many backpacks -Columbia, Nike etc safely nestled inside shelves. Even after giving to Sreettan's nephew and niece ,we still have many more. Unused throws are another surplus. They are so pretty we are saving them but often even in times of need, they get forgotten.

Our childhood was always one of "enoughs" and never of plenty. Sreettan's was probably harder. So initally we used to buy those little things we were fond of but later on it became an obsession too. While returning from US, we bought so many new things to maintain the lifestyle. We had 3 TV's ,  the biggest of which was kept in living room and another in bedroom. The 3rd one didn't even see light until the bedroom TV stopped working.

While i am grateful to God for having given us this lifestyle i feel very guilty about the material pleasures we have gone behind. Sree was a very simple man who was contended with what he had but over the years he has changed a lot too. Hard to believe he has becomes a shopaholic, gadgeholic and a soooocial person with atleast a dozen ACTIVE watsapp groups ! 

P S : There are atleast a dozen unopened things at home - 

2 dinner sets gifted to us

a silver lamp which we bought to gift someone whose reception got called off due to COVID,

2 unopened gifts we bought from Tribes Of India 

 a Coach handbag gifted during my farewell from US

Another nice handbag gifted by my project team 2 years back

A comforter set gifted by our US friends during farewell

Atleast 4-5 unopened shirts Sree bought for himself...to spend a 500rs, i still think a lot and make use of avenues to help the needy. 

I wish God remains kind to us and our children remain grateful !


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