How to Be Less Useful

by Priyanka Mattoo

English 288 pages 1 edition

‘Boundaries might be an Angrez thing, [my mother] says. We Indians don’t do boundaries, I’m sure of it. We’re all still haunted by the ghosts of Partition. We would never create our own.’ Think about what women choose to cut out or overlook as they approach the deep end of adulthood: Dessert. Naps. Pretty underwear. Sweaty dancing. ‘Pointless’ conversations with the people they love most. When did women’s lives become entirely about efficiency and optimization? Priyanka Mattoo asks herself precisely this question-and goes on to share her journey toward being less useful. As she lets go of a never-ending to-do list, stops ‘fixing’ the life-stories of acquaintances, and abandons those labour-intensive projects that nobody had, in fact, demanded she complete, she finds a new kind of freedom. She drifts off the orbit of perfectionism and busyness, and lands plumb in the middle of joy-a joy that’s synonymous with solo trips and impromptu plans and random meet-ups after near-death experiences; that is attached to nothing monumental or Instagram-worthy, but that is revitalizing and wholesome. With self-deprecating humour, devastating insight and bracing honesty-and without an ounce of preachiness – Priyanka Mattoo’s How to Be Less Useful shows us how to step out of the grind as a friend, as a partner, even as a parent, and welcome delight back into our lives.