{"id":1854,"date":"2026-07-03T14:44:42","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T14:44:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.uantwerpen.be\/global-pen-friends\/?p=1854"},"modified":"2026-07-03T14:44:43","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T14:44:43","slug":"the-value-of-enough-a-dialogue-on-consumption-memory-and-sustainability","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.uantwerpen.be\/global-pen-friends\/the-value-of-enough-a-dialogue-on-consumption-memory-and-sustainability\/","title":{"rendered":"The Value of Enough: A Dialogue on Consumption, Memory, and Sustainability"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This letter exchange between<\/strong> Karthika, a law student from India, and Ez\u00e9chiel, a law student from the Democratic Republic of Congo, explores SDG 12 through personal reflections on consumption, sustainability, technology, and social inequality. By comparing everyday practices, university life, and cultural values, they examine what it means to live responsibly, redefining \u201cenough\u201d in a world shaped by consumerism, aspiration, and global systems.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

LETTER 1<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

KARTHIKA B SURENDRAN<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dear Ez\u00e9chiel,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I hope this letter find you well and your semester is going well. I was told about this wonderful opportunity by many of my seniors and I\u2019m glad I get to delve into one of my major interests in this dialogue with you. I imagine we may be writing to each other from different contexts which makes this conversation all the more meaningful to me. I cannot begin to express my excitement to start but before that I would like to first introduce myself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am Karthika B Surendran, a law student from National Law University Delhi, India. I\u2019ve lived most of my life in one side of the country while pointing my heritage to the other and now I am at the center, furthering my ambitions towards everything I know and which I\u2019m yet to discover. I like phrasing it this way, thinking of life like that, one point to another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here, I live at the intersection of opportunity and deprivation as our country in its abundant populace and glamorous demographic dividend also harbours one of the most alarming wealth gaps among other pressing indicators, where some can indulge in mindless and impulsive purchases, others live hand to mouth each and every day, often side to side to the point that proximity is a dotted line, where skyscrapers are adjacent to slums. I paint a very grave picture but I feel a subtext to how spending is seen in my country should be acknowledged before I start my musings on the same. I\u2019m but a limited mouthpiece that cannot always know all the sides. A coin can be a pentagon for all we know. I am even more interested to know how things work out around spending and its repercussions in the Democratic Republic of Congo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My understanding of the Democratic Republic of Congo is limited to my Elementary School Textbook on Geography. I remember studying the life of people living in the equatorial region who encounters climates of hot, humid and daily rains along with dense tropical rainforests with its rich biodiversity and how it impacted human practices like farming and transportation. I cannot believe a country I have surface level geographical knowledge of, I can now know more and do so from not fragmented media narratives or readings but through someone who knows these experiences deeply having lived and persevered in them. I would treasure hearing about your lived experience especially how everyday life shapes the way people think about consumption, necessity, and aspiration. I feel that global conversations around sustainability flatten these differences, and I\u2019m hoping our exchange can move beyond that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To me, the SDG 12 is a concept that is common sense in my household. I don\u2019t see it as simply sustainability at a policy level but of the everyday ethics of how we consume, discard and assign value. I come from a background where I had to do with what I had and I like to believe I wouldn\u2019t have prospered better if I had more resources. I believe the lack of something gave me more room to create and think. This is a concept I feel could be common to households that come under the middle-income bracket where whatever is needed to live and survive is not compromised upon but nothing more, even luxuries are not entertained unless there is a purpose attached, either through status symbol or a form of ease that would be impractical if not indulged but that is also taken to be a once-in-a-lifetime purchase. I have lived in houses that I\u2019ve had to leave behind, I\u2019ve parted with things that no longer serve their purpose and I believed I had my peace with that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The concept that I now hold onto receipts and gift wraps in the name of memories sounds almost like an anomaly. The bare walls of my home would never know the posters and trinkets that adorn my hostel room. And what I find the most out of pocket is the fact that the shift is too recent, I went from a life of dispensables to one of hoarding. This does sound like a girl-meet-capitalism sort of segue but I feel this shift defines a lot of one\u2019s self-expression when they\u2019re away from family in an environment of such freedom as college. How has college life been for you? I live almost 500 miles from my parents (I listen to that one song of that title a lot whenever I miss them) and this distance feels like both a mistake and an opportunity. College life here feels like a strange mix of intensity and freedom. There are days filled with readings and deadlines, and others where conversations stretch endlessly over something as simple as tea. It is in these small, unstructured moments that I find myself thinking the most about questions like these. How is the college culture like on your end?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I also see this from my perception of social media now, on nostalgia and the concept of digital distrust. With the unreliability of online resources, where Instagram accounts go down out of nowhere, social media sites get banned and digital storage systems collapse, we rely more on physical media, on owning something in the sense of the word that our earlier generation used to do. At the same time, I don\u2019t think I can completely dismiss these platforms because they are also what make conversations like ours possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the age of subscriptions and streaming, we get to see our parents and grandparents reminisce of a time where they would either buy CDs or go to the theatre or watch on television, now when we have 50 megapixel cameras on our fingertips, we buy disposable or film camera or edit photos to look vintage as they do in our childhood albums and parent\u2019s wedding albums. This monotony of media in its abundance is stark and so heartbreaking because what is development for if we look back at every step, if we make technologies that mirror the imperfections that were once accidents, once considered to be of fault. It is then question on what would progress eventually be or have we reached the peak already and everything else will only be a copy of it. I think about this a lot now that I carry apps of such nature in my phone, the way I eye my father\u2019s film camera that once captured my childhood and take photobooth pictures with friends on a day I have a cute outfit on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I feel this also comes from the fact we progressed from CDs to streaming at an alarming rate, our libraries have expanded at a rate unprecedented. This information overload has hindered a lot of our thought processes that we are on a mission to \u201creset\u201d by the stream of YouTube thumbnails I\u2019ve noticed that preach the analog lifestyle, which is about owning more to delegate less use to your phone, given its multiplicity and uses from alarms to controlling almost every possible facet of your life to the point it has become a part of you. This co-dependence is staggering to say the least and why such lifestyles get promoted, of sabbaticals from your phone. Especially with the emergence of generative AI and decline of our critical thinking skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I also understand that SDG 12 is not an individual problem that can be solved by individual compromises but perseveres on industries that profit of toxic machineries and producing materials that take decades to decay and compromise the earth further but a sort of individual consciousness has to be awakened regarding the same. In India, I see this example through the concept of thrifting. While it is often framed as a sustainable process that helps the cycle of circulation in many spaces, it has recently become a dumping ground for fast fashion industries to reduce costs by the sale of fast fashion surpluses that then encourage such industries to produce at such a rate that the cost is reduced by the rate of production, hence legitimising overproduction and leaving it unchecked given the demands for cheaper clothing evolves. I\u2019m curious whether similar patterns exist where you are. Does second-hand consumption function as sustainability, necessity, or something else entirely? I often wonder how much responsibility lies with producers who design this system of excesses versus consumers whose participation makes it prosper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I hope these reflections of mine resonated with you in some ways. I would love to know how consumption, policed to be ethical, looks like in your country. What would your version of responsible consumption and production be in this world of rampant social media and its nostalgic aesthetics and digital distrust look like at your end or am I alone in thinking so much about these perceptions?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking forward to hearing your musings<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yours sincerely,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Karthika<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LETTER 2<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

EZECHIEL LUBUMBU<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cher Karthika,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

J\u2019esp\u00e8re que cette lettre te retrouve en bonne sant\u00e9. J\u2019ai lettre avec beaucoup d\u2019attention et je dois dire qu\u2019elle m\u2019a sinc\u00e8rement fait r\u00e9fl\u00e9chir. Il y avait quelque chose de tr\u00e8s r\u00e9fl\u00e9chi et d\u2019honn\u00eate dans la mani\u00e8re dont tu d\u00e9cris ton environnement, tes habitudes, et m\u00eame tes doutes. Cela ne ressemble pas \u00e0 une simple introduction, mais plut\u00f4t \u00e0 une invitation \u00e0 r\u00e9fl\u00e9chir avec toi \u2013 et j\u2019appr\u00e9cie beaucoup cela.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tu as parl\u00e9 de la vie comme d\u2019un passage d\u2019un point \u00e0 un autre. D\u2019une certaine mani\u00e8re, je m\u2019y retrouve, mais ici, la vie ressemble parfois moins \u00e0 un mouvement qu\u2019\u00e0 une forme d\u2019endurance. En vivant \u00e0 Bukavu, mon quotidien et assez r\u00e9p\u00e9titif. Nous suivons des routines qui sont devenues presque instinctives \u2013 la mani\u00e8re dont nous saluons nos voisins, prenons les taxis, organisons nos journ\u00e9es. Ces petites actions, r\u00e9p\u00e9t\u00e9es au fil du temps, sont devenues une sorte de structure silencieuse qui maintient l\u2019\u00e9quilibre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

En m\u00eame temps, mon pays traverse une p\u00e9riode difficile. Sans entrer dans trop de d\u00e9tails, nous faisons face \u00e0 une instabilit\u00e9 qui a affect\u00e9 \u00e0 la fois notre \u00e9conomie et notre vie sociale. Dans ces moments-l\u00e0, ce qui d\u00e9finit les gens, ce n\u2019est pas seulement ce qu\u2019ils traversent, mais la mani\u00e8re dont ils y r\u00e9pondent. Et ce que j\u2019ai pu observer, les gens continuent de vivre, de s\u2019organiser et de s\u2019entraider. Ce n\u2019est pas une situation id\u00e9ale, mais cela r\u00e9v\u00e8le quelque chose de profond\u00e9ment humain : notre capacit\u00e9 \u00e0 pers\u00e9v\u00e9rer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tu as \u00e9voqu\u00e9 le contraste entre richesse et privation en Inde, et je peux te dire que nous vivons quelque chose de similaire ici. L\u2019\u00e9cart est visible, parfois m\u00eame frappant. Ceux qui ont acc\u00e8s aux ressources peuvent consommer librement, tandis que les autres doivent soigneusement prioriser chaque d\u00e9pense. Dans bien des cas, la consommation n\u2019est pas une question de d\u00e9sir, mais de n\u00e9cessit\u00e9. Et pourtant, m\u00eame dans ces limites, les gens trouvent des moyens de pr\u00e9server leur dignit\u00e9 et m\u00eame des moments de joie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ce que tu dis sur la consommation comme acte \u00e9thique m\u2019a particuli\u00e8rement parl\u00e9. Dans mon contexte, la consommation responsable n\u2019est pas toujours un choix id\u00e9ologique conscient \u2013 elle est souvent impos\u00e9e par les circonstances. Les gens gaspillent tr\u00e8s peu, non pas forc\u00e9ment parce qu\u2019ils r\u00e9fl\u00e9chissent \u00e0 la dualit\u00e9 de mani\u00e8re abstraite, mais parce que les ressources sont pr\u00e9cieuses et limit\u00e9es. Cela conduit, de mani\u00e8re int\u00e9ressante, \u00e0 des pratiques durables. Par exemple, il est tr\u00e8s courant de r\u00e9utiliser les objets. Les bidons en plastique ou les contenants d\u2019huile, une fois leur usage initial termin\u00e9, sont transform\u00e9s et utilis\u00e9s pour stocker de l\u2019eau ou d\u2019autres besoins. Cette culture de la r\u00e9utilisation est profond\u00e9ment ancr\u00e9e dans la vie quotidienne.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cependant, cela ne signifie pas que tout est id\u00e9al. Il existe aussi un manque de gestion efficace des d\u00e9chets dans certaines zones, ce qui entra\u00eene des probl\u00e8mes de pollution et des d\u00e9fis environnementaux. Il y a donc un paradoxe : une population qui consomme de mani\u00e8re prudente, mais un syst\u00e8me qui ne soutient pas toujours des r\u00e9sultats durables.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tes r\u00e9flexions sur la consommation de seconde main m\u2019ont beaucoup int\u00e9ress\u00e9. Ici, porter des v\u00eatements d\u2019occasion est tout \u00e0 fait normal et largement accept\u00e9. C\u2019est \u00e0 la fois pratique et appr\u00e9ci\u00e9 pour son accessibilit\u00e9 et son originalit\u00e9. En m\u00eame temps, il existe une aspiration vers le neuf. Si les contraintes disparaissaient, beaucoup de personnes pr\u00e9f\u00e9reraient acheter du neuf. Je dirais donc que la consommation de seconde main se situe \u00e0 l\u2019intersection entre n\u00e9cessit\u00e9 et adaptation : elle est adopt\u00e9e, mais aussi dict\u00e9e par les r\u00e9alit\u00e9s \u00e9conomiques.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Concernant la vie universitaire, j\u2019ai trouv\u00e9 ta description tr\u00e8s proche de la mienne. Je suis actuellement \u00e9tudiant en droit \u00e0 l\u2019Universit\u00e9 Catholique de Bukavu, et mon exp\u00e9rience est \u00e0 la fois exigeante et enrichissante. L\u2019environnement acad\u00e9mique nous pousse \u00e0 r\u00e9fl\u00e9chir de mani\u00e8re critique, \u00e0 questionner et \u00e0 approfondir les concepts juridiques. En tant que chef de promotion, j\u2019assume \u00e9galement certaines responsabilit\u00e9s, ce qui ajoute une autre dimension \u00e0 mon parcours. Comme toi, je ressens cet \u00e9quilibre entre pression et libert\u00e9. Il y a des moments de travail intense o\u00f9 la rigueur est essentielle, mais aussi des moments d\u2019\u00e9change \u2013 des discussions avec mes camarades, parfois s\u00e9rieuses, parfois pleines d\u2019humour, mais toujours stimulantes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tes r\u00e9flexions sur les r\u00e9seaux sociaux et la nostalgie m\u2019ont aussi parl\u00e9. Les r\u00e9seaux sociaux occupent une place importante dans la vie des jeunes ici. Ils servent \u00e0 s\u2019informer, communiquer et m\u00eame d\u00e9velopper des activit\u00e9s \u00e9conomiques. Personnellement, j\u2019essaie de les utiliser avec prudence. Avec l\u2019essor de l\u2019intelligence artificielle et la mont\u00e9e de la d\u00e9sinformation, je privil\u00e9gie les sources fiables. En m\u00eame temps, je comprends ce sentiment de nostalgie dont tu parles. J\u2019ai aussi grandi \u00e0 l\u2019\u00e9poque des CD et des DVD, et il y a une authenticit\u00e9 dans ces souvenirs qui contraste avec l\u2019abondance num\u00e9rique actuelle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cela dit, je ne rejette pas le progr\u00e8s. Je pense que la technologie est essentielle, mais elle doit rester pertinente et proportionn\u00e9e \u00e0 nos besoins. Le progr\u00e8s, selon moi, devrait am\u00e9liorer nos vies sans nous d\u00e9connecter de la r\u00e9alit\u00e9.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

En ce qui concerne l\u2019ODD 12, je partage certaines de tes pr\u00e9occupations. Pour moi, consommer de mani\u00e8re responsable signifie \u00eatre conscient des cons\u00e9quences de nos choix \u2013 non seulement sur l\u2019environnement, mais aussi sur la soci\u00e9t\u00e9. Cependant, je pense \u00e9galement que ce probl\u00e8me ne peut pas \u00eatre r\u00e9solu uniquement au niveau individuel. M\u00eame si la prise de conscience personnelle est importante, les syst\u00e8mes et les structures jouent un r\u00f4le majeur. Dans mon contexte, le principal d\u00e9fi est souvent le manque d\u2019information. Beaucoup de personnes ne sont pas pleinement conscientes des impacts \u00e0 long terme de leurs habitudes de consommation, ce qui limite l\u2019action collective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Par moments, cela peut \u00eatre frustrant, surtout lorsque l\u2019on r\u00e9alise la complexit\u00e9 de ces enjeux. Mais je crois aussi que le changement commence par la compr\u00e9hension, et que des \u00e9changes comme le n\u00f4tre en font partie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

S\u2019il y a une chose que j\u2019aimerais que tu comprennes sur mon pays, c\u2019est que nous ne sommes pas d\u00e9finis uniquement par les difficult\u00e9s. Au-del\u00e0 de ce que certains m\u00e9dias montrent, il y a de la r\u00e9silience, de la cr\u00e9ativit\u00e9 et un fort esprit de communaut\u00e9. Nous avons appris \u00e0 nous adopter, et cela fa\u00e7onne non seulement notre mani\u00e8re de vivre, mais aussi notre mani\u00e8re de penser. Le respect, la solidarit\u00e9 et les relations humaines restent des valeurs fondamentales dans notre soci\u00e9t\u00e9.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quant \u00e0 l\u2019avenir, j\u2019esp\u00e8re voir un pays o\u00f9 la stabilit\u00e9 permettra aux individus non seulement de survivre, mais de pleinement r\u00e9aliser leur potentiel. Un pays o\u00f9 les opportunit\u00e9s seront mieux r\u00e9parties et o\u00f9 le progr\u00e8s profitera \u00e0 tous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ta lettre a soulev\u00e9 de nombreuses questions importantes, et je continue d\u2019y r\u00e9fl\u00e9chir. Peut-\u00eatre que celle qui m\u2019interpelle le plus est la suivante : dans un monde o\u00f9 la consommation est de plus en plus influenc\u00e9e par des syst\u00e8mes globaux, les r\u00e9seaux sociaux et des pressions \u00e9conomiques, penses-tu qu\u2019il soit encore possible pour les individus de red\u00e9finir ce que signifie r\u00e9ellement \u00ab assez \u00bb ?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dans l\u2019attente de te lire,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bien \u00e0 toi,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ez\u00e9chiel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LETTER 3<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

KARTHIKA B SURENDRAN<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dear Ez\u00e9chiel,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I read your letter many times and I have to begin by saying that there’s something about the way you write, so honest and unflinching yet never without hope, that makes me pause and sit with your words for much longer than I usually do with anything these days, damned attention span and everything. Thank you for sharing so much of yourself and your world with me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your question about redefining “enough” has been haunting me in the best way possible. I keep returning to it, turning it over in my mind like a mobius strip. In a world where algorithms tell us what we want before we even know it is that we <\/em>want, where “more” is the factory setting, can we actually reset our understanding of sufficiency? I would like to say yes, but I’m not sure if I fully believe myself yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What struck me most about your letter was how you described reuse not as a choice born from ideology, but from necessity and how that necessity has created something beautiful and sustainable without anyone necessarily trying to be “sustainable.” There is a similarity I see back home in Bihar where all clothes in my family live a shifting hierarchy from outdoor clothes to indoor clothes to finally a rag for cleaning, all make it to their full fruition or are halfway there, my cardigans from school are what my mother wears in the winters at home, the office shirts my father wore before I was born, I have worn them until I left for college and his old sweater is hanging in my hostel closet right now as well as a tablecloth my mom embroidered when I was a toddler covering my study table, so unintentional and natural and yet so comforting the history that holds us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There’s also something profoundly different about that compared to what I see here in urban Delhi. When people talk about sustainability, it often feels performative. We buy reusable metal straws and post about it. We thrift and call it “vintage shopping” while the clothes we discard pile up somewhere we don’t have to see. The consciousness feels imported, almost imposed, rather than woven into the fabric of daily life the way we describe it in Bukavu and Bihar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think about your description of plastic jugs being repurposed for water storage, and it makes me think of how back home, except a few proper bottles for school and a flask for winters, the rest of the bottles in our fridge were reused single use plastic bottles from cold drinks and bottled water bought once in a while, and the contrast of me in Delhi where I own sippers, mugs and sturdy plastic bottles, decorating them with stickers in the same breath as I discard single use cold drink bottles without a second thought, how much of my own “sustainable” behavior is actually just consumption with a green label I can\u2019t help but wonder. I feel good about myself. But I’m still buying. Meanwhile, true reuse, the kind that extends the life of something until it literally cannot serve any more like a beyond creased 1.25l Sprite bottle in the fridge that should have long been crushed, that’s rare here among people who have the choice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I come back to what you mentioned earlier about if financial constraints were removed, many people would prefer to buy new, and I see it. I think we all carry this idea that “new” always equals “better,” that it’s aspirational. And maybe that’s the tragedy of it, that the system has convinced us that secondhand, reused, repaired things are symbols of lack rather than symbols of wisdom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your life as class president while navigating law school resonates so much with me. I’m an elected representative of the cultural committee, and you can\u2019t be more right about that balance between pressure and freedom. There’s this constant negotiation between the person you’re expected to be in those roles and the person you actually are when you’re alone with your thoughts. Sometimes I wonder if university pushes us to perform critical thinking more than it allows us to actually think critically. We write papers about equitable resource distribution, and then we go live where the wealth gap is visible from one person to the next. Where the privilege bubble is so stark, its suffocating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your depiction of the role of social media in your life was also relatable because I’ve been struggling with this so much lately. You’re right that technology should improve our lives without disconnecting us from reality, but I find myself constantly failing at that balance. I can spend hours scrolling through curated versions or simple brain rot, watching but not really seeing, and then continuing to feel strangely empty afterwards. At the same time, like you said, it’s also how we stay informed, how we connect. It’s how I’m having this conversation with you, which feels more real than most of my in-person interactions these days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The part of your letter that I keep coming back to is when you said that your country isn’t defined solely by its difficulties. I think that’s what media does, isn’t it? It flattens entire nations, entire cultures, into their most digestible narratives and usually the most tragic ones. I’m so grateful you’re sharing the fullness of your reality with me from the resilience, the creativity, the community, the values of respect and solidarity. It makes me think about how India is portrayed too, either as this exotic spiritual destination or as this poverty-stricken place that needs saving. Never as the complex, contradictory, beautiful mess that it actually is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you talk about life in Bukavu feeling like endurance, like repetitive routines that create silent structures, I feel that deeply even though our versions of the same would be poles apart. Sometimes I think routine is both our greatest comfort and our greatest trap. It keeps us going, but it also keeps us from questioning too much. And maybe that’s necessary sometimes and what we need those structures to survive the chaos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The paradox you mentioned, a population that consumes prudently but a system that doesn’t support sustainable outcomes is exactly what frustrates me most about this whole conversation around SDG 12. Individual actions matter, but they feel like drops in an ocean when the systems themselves are broken. You mentioned lack of information as a major challenge there. Here, it’s almost the opposite problem, there’s too much information overload, so much of it contradictory or sponsored by the very companies that benefit from overconsumption, that people just tune out entirely due to its unreliability. We’re paralyzed by choice and drowned in greenwashing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coming back to your question, I still don\u2019t know if I have a good answer to your question about redefining “enough,” but I think maybe the answer looks different in different places. For you, it might be about systems catching up to the wisdom that’s already embedded in daily practices. For me, it might be about unlearning a lot of what I’ve been taught about aspiration and success and starting to see reuse, repair, and restraint as aspirational in themselves. But one thing I can attest to know- conversations like this one give me hope. You’ve made me think so much about what I take for granted, about what I’ve never had to question because I’ve never had to live thinking too prominently about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One more thing I wanted to share with you before I end this: there’s this concept in Sanskrit called “aparigraha,” which roughly translates to non-possessiveness or non-greed. It’s one of the ethical foundations of yoga philosophy (since us Indians are so famous for yoga, this felt unique to share), and it’s about taking only what you need and not hoarding or accumulating beyond that. Living in a rented house and not caring for sentimentality and hoarding, though this word was never uttered, materialistically we lived it carelessly regardless. We would save and reuse everything, not because we were trying to be sustainable, but because that’s just how we understood the world. In hindsight, I realize that what we’re calling “sustainable living” now was simply “living” for most of human history. We’re trying to circle back to something we lost somewhere along the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thank you for trusting me with your thoughts, your reality, your questions. I feel like I’m learning so much, not just about the Democratic Republic of Congo, but about myself and the assumptions I didn’t even know I was making.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking forward to your next letter more than you know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With warmth and respect,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Karthika<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LETTER 4<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

EZECHIEL LUBUMBU<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cher Karthika,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

J\u2019ai pris le temps de relire ta lettre, pas une fois, mais plusieurs fois, un peu comme tu l\u2019as fait avec la mienne. Il y a quelque chose de profond\u00e9ment apaisant dans ta mani\u00e8re de r\u00e9fl\u00e9chir, de questionner sans pr\u00e9tendre avoir toutes les r\u00e9ponses, et surtout de rester honn\u00eate face \u00e0 tes propres contradictions. Cela rend cet \u00e9change particuli\u00e8rement pr\u00e9cieux pour moi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ta r\u00e9flexion sur le \u00ab suffisant \u00bb continue de r\u00e9sonner en moi. Tu as raison : dans un monde o\u00f9 tout est con\u00e7u pour nous pousser vers le \u00ab toujours plus \u00bb, repenser ce qui est \u00ab assez \u00bb devient presque un acte de r\u00e9sistance. Ici, \u00e0 Bukavu, cette notion n\u2019est pas toujours th\u00e9oris\u00e9e, elle est simplement v\u00e9cue. Mais comme tu l\u2019as si bien soulign\u00e9, cette mani\u00e8re de vivre est souvent dict\u00e9e par la n\u00e9cessit\u00e9, et non par un choix conscient. Cela pose une question qui me trouble de plus en plus : est-ce que la durabilit\u00e9 a vraiment de la valeur si elle dispara\u00eet d\u00e8s que les contraintes \u00e9conomiques s\u2019all\u00e8gent ?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ton exemple du Bihar m\u2019a profond\u00e9ment touch\u00e9. Cette circulation naturelle des objets, cette continuit\u00e9 des usages, cette m\u00e9moire inscrite dans les choses\u2026 c\u2019est quelque chose que je reconnais aussi dans mon environnement. Ici, un objet n\u2019est pas seulement un objet : il a une histoire, une fonction \u00e9volutive, presque une seconde vie permanente. Et pourtant, comme tu le dis, d\u00e8s que l\u2019option du \u00ab neuf \u00bb devient accessible, cette logique tend \u00e0 s\u2019effacer. Cela me fait penser que le vrai d\u00e9fi de l\u2019Objectif de D\u00e9veloppement Durable 12 n\u2019est pas seulement de promouvoir la consommation responsable, mais de redonner une valeur symbolique et culturelle \u00e0 la sobri\u00e9t\u00e9.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ce contraste que tu d\u00e9cris entre le Bihar et Delhi, je le retrouve \u00e9galement ici, \u00e0 une autre \u00e9chelle. Il existe une forme de durabilit\u00e9 silencieuse, presque invisible, qui ne cherche pas \u00e0 \u00eatre montr\u00e9e. Et en face, une durabilit\u00e9 affich\u00e9e, parfois performative, qui peut devenir une nouvelle forme de consommation. Cette id\u00e9e que tu \u00e9voques \u2014 consommer \u00ab vert \u00bb tout en continuant \u00e0 consommer \u2014 m\u2019a particuli\u00e8rement marqu\u00e9. Elle m\u2019a oblig\u00e9 \u00e0 me poser une question simple mais d\u00e9rangeante : \u00e0 quel moment la durabilit\u00e9 cesse-t-elle d\u2019\u00eatre un engagement pour devenir une simple tendance ?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Je partage aussi ton analyse sur cette perception du \u00ab neuf \u00bb comme symbole de r\u00e9ussite. C\u2019est une id\u00e9e profond\u00e9ment ancr\u00e9e, presque universelle. Poss\u00e9der du neuf, c\u2019est prouver qu\u2019on a r\u00e9ussi, qu\u2019on a d\u00e9pass\u00e9 un certain stade. Et \u00e0 l\u2019inverse, utiliser, r\u00e9parer ou r\u00e9utiliser peut \u00eatre per\u00e7u comme un signe de manque. C\u2019est l\u00e0, je pense, que se trouve l\u2019un des plus grands obstacles : changer non seulement les pratiques, mais aussi les repr\u00e9sentations. Faire en sorte que la sagesse ne soit plus confondue avec la privation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ton passage sur la vie universitaire m\u2019a \u00e9galement beaucoup parl\u00e9. Cette tension entre ce que l\u2019on attend de nous et ce que nous sommes r\u00e9ellement, je la vis au quotidien. \u00catre pr\u00e9sident de classe en facult\u00e9 de droit m\u2019a appris \u00e0 jongler entre responsabilit\u00e9 et authenticit\u00e9, entre performance et introspection. Et comme toi, je me demande parfois si nous sommes r\u00e9ellement encourag\u00e9s \u00e0 penser de mani\u00e8re critique, ou simplement \u00e0 en donner l\u2019illusion. Nous analysons des syst\u00e8mes, des in\u00e9galit\u00e9s, des principes\u2026 mais nous restons souvent pris dans ces m\u00eames structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Concernant les r\u00e9seaux sociaux, ton honn\u00eatet\u00e9 m\u2019a frapp\u00e9. Cette sensation de vide apr\u00e8s des heures pass\u00e9es \u00e0 consommer du contenu, je la connais aussi. Et pourtant, comme tu le dis, c\u2019est aussi gr\u00e2ce \u00e0 ces outils que des \u00e9changes comme le n\u00f4tre existent. Cela montre \u00e0 quel point la technologie est ambivalente : elle peut \u00e0 la fois nous \u00e9loigner de la r\u00e9alit\u00e9 et nous rapprocher des autres de mani\u00e8re inattendue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ce que tu dis sur la mani\u00e8re dont les pays sont repr\u00e9sent\u00e9s m\u2019a profond\u00e9ment touch\u00e9. Ici, comme ailleurs, il est difficile d\u2019\u00e9chapper aux r\u00e9cits simplifi\u00e9s. La R\u00e9publique D\u00e9mocratique du Congo est souvent r\u00e9duite \u00e0 ses conflits, \u00e0 ses difficult\u00e9s, comme si tout le reste n\u2019existait pas. Ton regard sur l\u2019Inde m\u2019a fait comprendre que ce ph\u00e9nom\u00e8ne est global. Et c\u2019est peut-\u00eatre l\u00e0 que r\u00e9side la force de ce type d\u2019\u00e9change : redonner de la complexit\u00e9, de la nuance, de l\u2019humanit\u00e9 \u00e0 des r\u00e9alit\u00e9s trop souvent caricatur\u00e9es.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ton id\u00e9e selon laquelle la routine peut \u00eatre \u00e0 la fois un refuge et une prison est particuli\u00e8rement juste. Elle m\u2019a fait r\u00e9fl\u00e9chir \u00e0 ma propre mani\u00e8re de vivre. Il y a une certaine s\u00e9curit\u00e9 dans la r\u00e9p\u00e9tition, dans les habitudes\u2026 mais aussi un risque de ne plus questionner ce qui nous entoure. Peut-\u00eatre que trouver un \u00e9quilibre entre stabilit\u00e9 et remise en question est l\u2019un des d\u00e9fis les plus subtils de notre g\u00e9n\u00e9ration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tu \u00e9voques \u00e9galement le paradoxe entre les actions individuelles et les syst\u00e8mes. C\u2019est une r\u00e9flexion que je partage profond\u00e9ment. Ici, beaucoup de pratiques sont naturellement \u00e9conomes et responsables, mais elles ne sont pas soutenues par des structures adapt\u00e9es. Et comme tu le dis, m\u00eame lorsque l\u2019information est disponible, elle peut devenir un obstacle lorsqu\u2019elle est trop abondante ou peu fiable. Cela montre que le probl\u00e8me n\u2019est pas seulement individuel, mais syst\u00e9mique.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ta r\u00e9flexion finale sur \u00ab aparigraha \u00bb m\u2019a beaucoup marqu\u00e9. Cette id\u00e9e de ne pas accumuler au-del\u00e0 de ses besoins r\u00e9sonne fortement avec ce que j\u2019observe autour de moi. Et elle me fait r\u00e9aliser que ce que nous appelons aujourd\u2019hui \u00ab vivre durablement \u00bb n\u2019est peut-\u00eatre qu\u2019un retour \u00e0 une forme de simplicit\u00e9 que l\u2019humanit\u00e9 connaissait d\u00e9j\u00e0. Peut-\u00eatre que le v\u00e9ritable progr\u00e8s n\u2019est pas d\u2019inventer quelque chose de nouveau, mais de red\u00e9couvrir ce que nous avons oubli\u00e9.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

En repensant \u00e0 ta question initiale sur le \u00ab suffisant \u00bb, je ne suis pas s\u00fbr d\u2019avoir une r\u00e9ponse d\u00e9finitive. Mais cet \u00e9change m\u2019a permis de comprendre une chose : le \u00ab suffisant \u00bb n\u2019est pas une quantit\u00e9 fixe, c\u2019est une mani\u00e8re de voir le monde. C\u2019est une relation aux choses, aux autres, et \u00e0 soi-m\u00eame.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Avant de conclure, je tiens \u00e0 te dire \u00e0 quel point cet \u00e9change a \u00e9t\u00e9 enrichissant pour moi. C\u2019est avec une certaine \u00e9motion que je r\u00e9alise que cette lettre marque la fin de notre correspondance. J\u2019ai sinc\u00e8rement appr\u00e9ci\u00e9 partager ces r\u00e9flexions avec toi, d\u00e9couvrir ta mani\u00e8re de penser, et confronter nos r\u00e9alit\u00e9s si diff\u00e9rentes mais finalement si proches sur certains points. Ce type de dialogue est rare, et je suis reconnaissant d\u2019avoir pu le vivre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Je repars de cet \u00e9change avec plus de questions que de r\u00e9ponses, mais aussi avec une forme d\u2019espoir. L\u2019espoir que des conversations comme la n\u00f4tre puissent, \u00e0 leur \u00e9chelle, contribuer \u00e0 changer notre mani\u00e8re de voir le monde.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Merci pour ta sinc\u00e9rit\u00e9, ta profondeur et ton ouverture d\u2019esprit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dans l\u2019attente de garder un souvenir durable de cet \u00e9change,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Avec mes amiti\u00e9s,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ez\u00e9chiel<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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