How did I get into naturism?
The roots of this actually go back to my childhood. Of course, at that time, I didn't even know the word naturism or have any connection to its concepts.
I was born in a small town where I spent the first eighteen years of my life, and like everyone else, I still have a fascination with this town. In this town, as I began to understand it, around the age of eight or ten, when I first saw a group of people walking on the street, they aroused in me a sense of curiosity and a kind of special attraction.
In that community, some people were just like us, but there were some people in the middle of that community who were not wearing any clothes. And these people were the ones who caught my attention in a very exceptional way.
As I grew up in that town, I would see that community on the streets many times, and each time, my curiosity to know that community grew, and their way of living completely naked made me want to live like that too.
I felt that way inside, but I don't know why.
One day, in my slightly rebellious nature, I asked my parents about this community, who these people were, and why they didn't wear clothes, and we all wear clothes and consider it inappropriate not to wear clothes. My parents then told me that these people were Jain sages and, according to Jainism, they had renounced everything to attain salvation, and that is why they remain naked.
I understood some of what my parents told me, but I did not understand the concept of salvation or renunciation of everything at that age. Then I asked further, is it possible to live naked without renouncing everything, just by giving up clothes? They smiled slightly and said that one cannot live like that, and the other is that Jainism says that one cannot attain salvation by giving up clothes only.
At that age, I had no idea about the concept of salvation. I only knew that I could be naked only if I renounced everything like the Jain sages. Otherwise, I would not be able to do so. Since I did not have the courage to leave my parents, siblings, and family and go out forever at that age, my desire for nudity did not decrease, but it did regress to some extent.
Even so, I could not forget the Jain monks and their practice of remaining naked. On the contrary, it became deeply ingrained in my mind.
After a few years, I had to leave my beloved town for education. Then I had to face a very sad incident. I had to lose my dearest sister. I could never digest this grief, and for the first time, I felt very strongly about the emptiness of life, and this feeling kept getting darker.
Later, amidst all the responsibilities and demands of life - education, job, marriage, children, raising children, parents' illness, children's jobs, their marriages - I don't know when my love for nudity faded. But one thing was certain: the love for those Jain sages and their way of living naked became deeply ingrained in my mind.
In this chaos of life, I never realized when I was on the verge of retirement. And finally, I retired, and a different life began.
But my retirement was a unique experience and joy for me. The desire to experience something that had been deeply ingrained in my mind since childhood.
I came across an article in the Times of India in 2022, and this article changed my life for the better.
In this article, for the first time in my life, I was introduced to the words and concepts of naturism, naturist, nudism, and nudist. I also learned for the first time that this community, both around the world and in India, that lives this lifestyle, is not associated with any religion, any religious purpose, or the prevailing practice of any religion. It was because of this article that I learned that I can live naked in a very simple way, not for the purpose of achieving salvation, but also without the need to sacrifice everything.
For the first time, I realized that I could fulfill my childhood longing for simple nudity through this lifestyle, and I felt a great joy that cannot be measured in anything. This longing of mine, which, although not completely disappeared in these turmoils of life, was still lost somewhere, was definitely revived by this article...
I read this article two or three times, and I am very grateful to the author of this article, whose article revived my childhood longing.
This article also made me realize that this lifestyle can be experienced only in our private space or in a few selected places because in most countries, including India, such nudity is prohibited, both by law and by social norms.
Coincidentally, only my wife and I were living there at that time. After a few days, I gathered the courage to tell my wife about this lifestyle and my childhood passion for simple nudity. Fortunately, my wife, being a sensible, rational, and conscientious decision-maker, was in favor of my lifestyle. She only imposed one condition, which was that I could experience this lifestyle as per the social norms and the law.
I happily accepted her condition. I have been happily living this lifestyle for the past four years because of her favorable decision, and I cannot thank her enough for that. The joy I get from this lifestyle is incomparable; that's all I can say.
As I embraced this lifestyle, my joy doubled and continues to do so. To learn more about naturism, I started searching the internet, and from there I got a lot of information and knowledge, and then I opened my naturism account on Blue Sky. Through this, many good, genuine naturist people followed me, and I also followed genuine naturist accounts.
This has made me some genuine naturist friends and will make more, such as the nudist calendar. I have also learned something new from this naturism experience. From this experience, I have decided that I do not want to take the initiative to tell anyone about my passion for naturism, but if someone finds out about it from somewhere, I will not deny it. I have participated in some naturism advocacy activities on my own, arranged by The Nudist Calendar, and I am very happy about it. I want to do whatever I can in the future.
When I think about how I adopted the naturist lifestyle, a few points stand out to me -
My childhood fascination with the simple, naked way of living of the Jain sages, the untimely passing of my sister, a bit of a rebellious attitude, the hypocrisy of society and religion, human sufferings, the huge differences in society, society's endless greed for things, my inclination towards minimalism, society's inexcusable destruction of nature, the emptiness and uncertainty of life, the insecurity that comes from naturism, and body positivity.
These are all important factors that contribute to my being into naturism.
Abhijit can be contacted at - @abhijitanaturist.bsky.social
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