I have been watching videos of EDC in the United States and of other regions. There are some EDC videos for India but they are rare. EDC is the abbreviation for "Every Day Carry", i.e. the stuff that a person needs to carry with oneself on an everyday basis. The videos in the US show them carrying revolvers, hunting knives, multipurpose tool kits, torches and also food as though one is fighting for survival in urban America. Maybe that is true there, but it is certainly overboard here in India.
Some of the EDC bags are also quite complicated and with several pouches, etc. There was one video of a person in New York who also carried his rain poncho and a sleeping bag daily in the city.
I found this concept quite intriguing and decided to give it a shot and see what would be the daily essentials for an urban male commuting professional in India.
I so remember my father who taught me to go with the magic of seven, i.e., seven items or seven habits or seven mannerisms that one should live by. My seven items for EDC to carry on my person would be -
(1) Wristwatch - I prefer an analog one. I cannot be seen wearing a digital one.
(2) Handkerchief - A large, preferably white colored, cleanly folded to be in the trouser pocket.
(3) Key sets - for the home, for the vehicle and for the office. Can be kept in different locations on self.
(4) Pocket Comb - I prefer the flat plastic one with soft teeth. I do not carry the narrow stick variety.
(5) Pens - a fountain pen or a jotter or a ball pen or a gel pen and plus a pencil if you need one.
(6) Spectacles or sunglasses. I use one with a variable lens and sometimes carry a tissue cloth to clean.
(7) Wallet. - Mine is 'Eddie Bauer' purchased in 2000 at Washington DC on a sale. I used one from 2000 to 2010 and now, the second one that was bought at that time, is in use from 2010 and going on 2021.
And as in today's times - there would be the ubiquitous eighth and most necessary and essential -
(8) Cellphone - Mine comes with a cover and is always carried in a pouch or inside my haversack.
One would need to make a separate list of 7 items that would go inside a wallet but that can be separately done. Similarly one can list seven clothing items for oneself on a regular day wear. I simply cannot think of an eighth carry-on-person EDC item. Perhaps my mind was made up for me by my father!!!
(My father - Balapila Naga Bhushan - was a stickler for his everyday wear and never changed his habits all through his life.)
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