In Bangalore, load shedding means power or electricity cuts. Most people in Bangalore do not depend on electricity at all. By this I mean, if there is electricity, fine. If not, it is still okay. While I was traveling in Kerala, people would tell me about the power cut of 30 minutes, like it was a big deal. I did not bother to tell them I can live without electricity, after all I have lived in Bangalore where a 5 hour cut is not abnormal. Now that it is time for me to move, I have to deal with a different type of load shedding. I have to face the difficult question of what books I need to take with me. I have only so much space for a very few books. Every time I move, I have to face the downsizing. Even though I have done it a few times, it is still tough every single time.
I got rid of all my yoga notes. It weighed about 6 kilograms. I sold it for 5 rupees per kilogram. Made some money off of my yoga notes that I have been carrying around. I am sure some one in Bangalore is bound to see my stick figures while buying peanuts in a paper cover. I hope they break into a yoga session after they eat the peanuts.
Technology has its uses. I diligently took photographs of all my notes before selling them. I have stored them on my laptop. Now, I can only hope my laptop does not crash or it does not get stolen. There is no guarantee of either but to be detached with this entire thing. I considered getting it scanned, but it is very expensive in India. I thought of getting my yoga text books and related books scanned. They cost a lot, way more than the cost of the books. I have decided to let go of a lot of books that I do not have space for. I like each and every book that I have, but I have to rank them to select the top 3. Or I will have to leave behind other important things.
I do prefer to hold a real book or sheets of paper than reading it on my monitor. Now the decision is between not having the notes or reading it on my monitor. So, it is not too bad. And, I also think I have read my notes so many times, that it is stored in my brain too. But, that is not too reliable. A compromise is not bad in this case. While I am on the use of technology to simplify things, I want to point out an excellent article written by Papi for Mint, which questions if technology does simplify things.
This is tough. What do I take, what do I leave behind?
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