Back to Basics: Trading Luxury for Life

If there’s one year I’d choose to fix in time — to bottle and revisit — it’s 2009.

Before that, life was an extravaganza. Between 2004 and 2008, I lived like there was no tomorrow. I got the first iPhone within a week of its US launch and mind you, it wasn’t even available in India. We jailbroke it, flaunted it. I wore branded sunglasses, high-end clothes, and indulged in a lifestyle that spelled luxury in bold letters.

Then came 2009.

I moved to Madurai, a city that felt more like a giant village than a bustling metropolis like Chennai. Suddenly, my world shrank. I swapped my shiny iPhone for a humble ₹1,000 Nokia. The car keys went into a drawer; I embraced crowded government buses and dusty auto rides. No more branded merchandise. No more air-conditioned comfort zones.

For the first time, I lived away from my parents. Rent? Just ₹3,000 on Bypass Road. Dining out? Almost every eatery was unbelievably cheap and the city had only two “posh” hotels: Pandian Hotel and Taj Pasumalai, meant for the affluent. I never set foot in them that year.

My weekends turned into quiet adventures: bus rides to Coimbatore, Kanyakumari, Thoothukudi, Munnar. With each journey, I peeled away another layer of comfort and rediscovered my resilience.

It was emotionally and financially tough. But here’s what matters most: I stuck to my resolution every single day, for the entire 365 days of 2009. I didn’t slip, didn’t compromise.

The year wasn’t great or something I long to relive. I don’t romanticize it. I simply cherish it for challenging myself with discomfort and for fulfilling that promise to myself completely.

Looking back today, I’m amazed that I really did it. I gave up all my comforts, chose a simple life, and stayed true to it for the whole year.

2009 wasn’t just another year. It was a fresh start, tough but real.