Be Simple!... is so Complex!
I'm contemplating the greatest, most beautiful lie of the 21st century:
the myth of being Simple and Free.
We don't just like these words; we weaponize them.
They're not ideals; they are political slogans, branding exercises, and the ultimate virtue signaling tools. "We believe in Simple living and Free thought!" the elites cry.
(Translation: "We're rich enough to choose poverty chic🤫, and your thoughts will remain taxed.")
O'Common—Let’s be honest.
Simple today is the most complex, high-effort performance imaginable.
It's the equivalent of that "natural, no-makeup look" which, as every millennial knows, requires about fourteen products, three YouTube tutorials, and a lighting crew. It’s the very embodiment of our society’s glorious, self-congratulatory hypocrisy.
The Performance of Poverty:
Take, for example, the grand, annual pilgrimage to Simplicity.
You know the script. Someone from a fancy metro city posts a stunningly aesthetic, desaturated photo from a village tea stall or a highway dhaba.
The lighting is always perfect; the hand is always clutching the rustic earthen kulhad.
The Caption: "So grounded. So real. Just a simple cup of chai and the wisdom of the local folk. The real India.
#SimplicityGoals #AuthenticIndia #FoundMyself"
The Reality (The Cynic's Cut): They drove 400 km in an air-conditioned SUV with tinted windows (to avoid being too grounded), spent 15 minutes nervously trying to figure out if the local water was a death sentence, bought the chai for ₹10, spent another 20 minutes staging the perfect shot with the expensive DSLR (because phone cameras are too complex to capture simplicity), posted it using a high-speed data package, and then zoomed off to their resort with a heated pool, where they complained about the lack of simple, organic micro-greens on the menu.
Try telling them to actually live that life. To get up at 5 a.m., manage a tiny shop, deal with fluctuating power, and be content being a "Master Ji" from a 1950s black-and-white film—that earnest, slightly underpaid, utterly vital local figure. Suddenly, "simple" becomes "primitive," and the hashtag is quickly swapped for "LuxuryStaycation" and "ThankGodForWiFi."
The Dual Nature of "Free" or copycat to the Great Bollywood Lie?
This brings us to the Dual Nature of Simple and Free. It’s the classic social paradox, perfectly encapsulated by Bollywood.
Consider that legendary song from Mohra, "न कजरे की धार" (Na Kajre Ki Dhaar). The lyrics famously praise the heroine for her effortless, almost "free" beauty: “Na kajre ki dhaar, na motiyon ke haar... phir bhi kitni sunder ho.” (No kohl eyeliner, no pearl necklace... yet how beautiful you are.)
Song: Naa Kajre Ki Dhar | Mohra (1994)
The irony is so thick you could cut it with a knife: The actress on screen was invariably drenched in heavy, period-appropriate makeup! Her "no makeup" was a full, professional, cinema-grade paint job. Her "simplicity" was meticulously crafted by a whole team of artists. That is the perfect critical pun on our modern lives: We praise the simple, but we only accept it when it's meticulously polished and highly funded.
The "Free" look requires the most expensive "complex" tools, the most careful staging, and the most deliberate concealment of effort.
The Thinkers Knew Simplicity Was Hard Work
It’s almost as if the wise thinkers of the past saw this coming. They knew that true simplicity was an inner state, not a cheap marketing stunt.
Rabindranath Tagore once said:
"The simple can only be reached through the complex; I, therefore, cannot begin with the simple."(Source: The Philosophy of Rabindranath Tagore by S. Radhakrishnan, citing Tagore's views on poetry and truth.)
Tagore understood that it takes a journey through chaos, through understanding the intricacies of the world and the self, to finally arrive at a genuine, unforced simplicity. Our modern attempt to shortcut the complex journey by buying a minimalist wardrobe or paying ₹550 for black coffee is a joke.
And the great psychoanalyst Carl Jung noted the same about the internal struggle:
"Simplicity is the most difficult thing to secure in this world; it is the last limit of experience and the last effort of genius."(Source: Cited in various compilations of Jung's letters and lectures, reflecting his belief that clarity is hard-won.)
The last limit of experience. It’s not the starting point. It's the summit you only reach after years of complexity. We, however, treat simplicity like a cheap, disposable accessory bought from a roadside vendor whose life we wouldn’t touch with a ten-foot pole.
Conclusion: The Cons of Being Actually Simple
And here’s the most cynical truth: what are the cons of actually being simple today? They are existential.
You'll Be Unmarketable: Simplicity is a social media dud. Your genuinely simple, clutter-free, drama-free life won't generate "engagement." It's boring.
You’ll Be Underestimated: In a world that equates complexity (fancy titles, jargon, expensive possessions) with importance, genuine simplicity is mistaken for naivety, lack of ambition, or, worse, poverty.
You’ll Miss Out on the Comfort Complex: True simplicity means accepting discomfort—no instant fixes, no high-end health insurance, no backup generator. And who, honestly, wants to give up the very comfort that allows them to romanticize discomfort?
So, the next time you hear someone waxing lyrical about "simple living," watch them closely. Are they documenting their virtue? Is their "free" spirit actually costing them, or others, a fortune?
True simplicity—the kind that Master Ji lives, the kind that costs nothing and asks for everything—remains a beautiful, unachievable theory. For the rest of us, it will remain a highly complex, carefully curated, and beautifully filtered photograph.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go purchase an organic, hand-loomed kurta to convey my deep commitment to being truly, effortlessly simple. I need to nail the lighting for the mirror selfie. It's complicated.🤣🤣
(Inputs are mine—refinements are from AI! to sound simple yet sophisticated!)
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