Julia Suryakusuma talk for Gandhi’s Timeless Teachings for Simple Living and Sustainability, IndoIndians, October 2nd, 2024
Thank you for the opportunity to speak at the 155th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, one of the giants of the 20th Century, a global icon of peace and an advocate for the most vulnerable. I read his biography when I was a teenager and watched the 1982 movie “Gandhi”, which at 3 hours 11 minutes was quite a challenge! Both the book and film left an indelible impression on me.
Before I start, I should mention that I was born in India, which hopefully makes me an honorary Indian, although Ambassador Chakravorty told me that as the daughter of a diplomat, I cannot apply for Indian citizenship. What a pity! Today we are focusing on an aspect of Gandhi’s teachings and life which is particularly close to my heart. The IndoIndians panel discussion is also very timely both from a micro and macro point of view, i.e., my personal life and the state of the world. This coincides with the feminist slogan: “the personal is political”, which can also be transposed to ”the personal is environmentally responsible”. In the context of the current environmental and climate crisis, we all bear responsibility. I turned 70 in July this year and like many “senior citizens”, I am downsizing. You should actually start around age 55 or at retirement age, and when the children have moved out. So, I am 10-15 years late, but better late than never. I have put my 440m2 house on the market, with the intention to move to a house at least half the size or less. Big project! Naturally, I have to reduce the amount of things I have, to be able to fit my belongings into a smaller house and have been engaging in “Swedish death cleaning”. It’s about getting rid of stuff accumulated over the years which is no longer needed, so that no one else has to do it for you after you pass. It’s based on a book by Margaretta Magnusson, “The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning: How to Make your Loved Ones Life Easier and Your own Life more Pleasant”. For several years now I have been fascinated by the Tiny House Movement which started in the early 2000s. It’s an architectural and social movement which promotes the reduction and simplification of living spaces. These tiny house are usually put on wheels, and therefore can be moved to different locations. There are many features of tiny houses such as space efficiency, living with less, living off grid, etc., which could be copied in regular houses. Many of these tiny house use composting toilets which is the one aspect of tiny houses that I as an Indonesian don’t think I can adapt to, however environmentally friendly it is!
Talking about composting, in my housing complex, one of my neighbours, Pak Sony, started a movement to separate recycleable trash or “dry waste” such as glass, paper, metal, plastic, textiles, electronics goods, etc., and to compost kitchen and organic waste. I’ve been doing it for about two years now, so when the garbage trucks didn’t come for a week due to a landslide at the Cipayung landfill, it didn’t cause a garbage crisis in my household – or neighbourhood.
I also try to reduce my plastic use, and composting has also greatly helped in that respect as I no longer have to put food scraps in a plastic bag when I throw them out.
With regards transportation, the MRT and online taxis such as Grab and GoCar revolutionized my life. Public transportation as well as carpooling significantly reduces fuel expenses, tolls, parking fees and vehicle maintenance costs. I still own a car, but only to do errands in the Cinere area where I live.
Fossil fuels – coal, oil and gas – account for 75 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions and nearly 90 per cent of all carbon dioxide emissions. It’s by far the largest contributor to global climate change.
I try to minimise energy consumption: turning of unnecessary lights, using energy efficient appliances and bulbs, unplug appliances, etc. If we all have that awareness, it makes a difference. I have been vegetarian since 1990, or to use the term Yuval Noah Harari uses, veganish. That means that ideologically I am vegan, but in practice I still eat eggs and fish. Animal husbandry and livestock produce between 14.00 to 17.30% of global emissions. Planning and cooking meals at home is cheaper and healthier than eating out, and it is something I do on a regular basis. No Go Food for me, thank you! India has the largest number of vegetarians, 38% of its population. But it is also has the largest population in the world, in 2024, over 1,450 billion, overtaking China. When I visited China in 1985, it was very hard to find vegetarian food. But when I am in India, I am in vegetarian heaven! A plant based diet has been recognised as being the healthiest, not only for the individual human, but for the planet. So let’s all be at least veganish! Gandhi is Indian, but he belongs to the world. It was however only 60 years after his assassination, in 2007, that the UN declared the Mahatma’s birthday, October 2, as the International Day of Non-Violence which includes simple living and sustainably. So let’s all become Gandhi. Don’t worry, it doesn’t require wearing a loin cloth, just living simply and sustainably.
~Julia Suryakusuma
Cinere, 2 October 2024
