Dear World, Can We Have A Recycle Bin?

Clearing the clutter shouldn't have to mean dumping the memories too

- Rajeev Masand

We’re going to be shifting home soon and the folks have been insisting for months now to get rid of anything that one doesn’t need. You know, that thing about clearing out the junk to make space for newer things that one will inevitably discover one doesn’t need.

While there is no question that a half dozen or so chargers for mobile phones that probably aren’t even manufactured anymore have to go, it’s hard to dump the old cameras and dictaphones that bear witness to many a memorable holiday taken and so many revealing interviews recorded. But off they go into the junk pile.

What's been especially hard to dispose of is a sack full of DVDs that I'd scoured the globe for, building a collection bit by bit of rare documentaries, award-winning foreign language films, prized anthologies that are no longer in circulation, and movies that I had the good fortune of getting autographed by legendary filmmakers like Steven Spielberg and Ang Lee.

Close encounters