When you imagine a dorm room, you might picture a sterile, utilitarian square confined by white concrete walls. Most dorms are like that;  Japnaam’s is an exception. To be honest, it looks like something you’d see on a 5-star Airbnb profile in a hip part of town or like Brooklyn. There’s a strong sense that Japnaam takes great care in crafting and curating her space and the objects within it (apart from a couple of dead/dying plants). It also smells amazing (probably because we had some incense going, but shh don’t tell her RA). 

Japnaam: I’ve always liked things that kind of tell a story and oftentimes they’re one-of-a-kind things or little trinkets that I’ve found. I love collecting cameras, but I also love film photography, so it’s kind of like my possessions and hobbies are intertwined. I picked up my first camera two or three years ago. I always had an eye for photography, but I didn’t really know the different technicalities of it or anything about digital photography. I picked up a Pentax K1000 camera for a dollar at a garage sale—it’s still my favourite camera—and he was like, ‘I don’t really think it works’ but it did and it’s awesome! I have a bunch more now and all of them are from garage sales or antique shops. I started with that and it evolved from there. 

I’ve shot digital but I don’t like it as much. The difference will be that I’ll take 100 photos on digital and they all end up mediocre, whereas with film I have one shot so I spend the time on it, and it’s a nice shot. I think film captures the imperfect moments as well. Even if it is out of focus or that kind of thing, it has this general feeling that makes it perfectly imperfect, in a sense. 

A lot of the things that I really love have a feeling—like, they make me feel cozy. I love mugs and incense and candles—little things that have this cozy warmth about them. I love matcha and I always joke that it’s like ‘a hug in a mug,’ because when you drink it, it feels like a hug! 

Rachel: That’s so cute! And it rhymes! I love that you have a little matcha station in your dorm room. What is it about that feeling of coziness that you’re so drawn to? 

I’m an only child and because of that, I’m a bit of an outgoing introvert because I love being around people and being social but I generally get my energy from spending time doing my own thing. I’ve always seen it as being a very positive thing; I never see it as lonely because I feel energized when I’m in my own little space. I think that coziness is attributed to my personality in that way.  

Why do you think that is that you like such unique cute funky cozy things? 

My mom is like that. As I’ve evolved, I’ve evolved more into her and what she loves. She always loved antique markets; growing up, we’d go to the St. Jacob’s Farmers Market before school on Thursday mornings. She loves going to cafes, she has a crazy mug collection, and goes to pottery shows. My love for those kinds of things kind of sprouted from her. 

I think all of these elements just kind of like came into my life because of how you’re brought up, your family, who you hang out with as well. 

I could have become a very different person. Because we live in a very suburban area, I went to typical suburban elementary and middle schools. But then I decided to go to a different school for high school: it wasn’t my home school; it was an arts school. And because of that, I was surrounded by so many different people from different cities—Guelph, Cambridge, Kitchener, Waterloo—different socioeconomic classes, different interests, different backgrounds, different perspectives. I love my high school. Going to that high school probably shaped all of the other choices that I’ve made, ‘cause when I look back, I’m like, maybe I would have gone into a generic university program because I wouldn’t have known what I wanted to do. I’m in Creative Industries, but it’s one of those things where you have to give yourself permission to call yourself creative, I think. There’s such a stigma, especially in middle school, with art—the only art that anyone actually regards as art is realism and then you realize that you can be creative in so many different ways. You can be creative in thinking or just in perspective. 

How do you think that that creative background and open-minded perspective influences your relationship with your objects and how you see material goods? 

As I’ve evolved, and I think that this happens to everyone, I’ve definitely become more meaningful with my objects. I think it’s catching more attention with the whole idea of minimalism. I’m definitely not a minimalist because I like too many cute things but I agree with the ideology. With minimalism, the idea is to consume less, but each thing has to be meaningful—not just to consume for the sake of consuming, but so that every time you get something, you consider whether it really contributes to you and how it makes you feel. I feel like most of the things in my room have a story or contribute to a bigger picture rather than just being material goods to continue with consumption. 

I volunteered at this place called Ten Thousand Villages. It’s basically a fair trade store. They have stuff from all around the world and they get artisans to make their stuff. I always struggled with the idea of fair trade just because, yeah, it’s so important, but at the same time so unaffordable. If it’s so unaffordable and unsustainable, how can we actually make it a sustainable thing for all of society? I feel like it would have to be a system that could be implemented for the greater population, otherwise it’s just a few people who could help make that impact so it’s not as impactful. But then I realized— I joke that it’s like ‘things I say to myself to justify buying things’: ‘oh, it’s fair trade so you’re contributing to this positive thing!’ or ‘it’s a boutique, an entrepreneurial venture, you have to support them!’

‘I need to support local artists!’ I say to justify spending like a hundred dollars I don’t have at an art fair. 

That’s me! Yeah! I realized that ties into the idea of minimalism, so the solution would be to minimize consumption, instead of justifying it by telling myself ‘it’s fair trade’ or something. Consuming less is definitely something I’m working on. 

What’s another object that represents you?

This is one. This is called a kara. All Sikhs wear it. We have symbols of our faith, or symbols of our identity that all represent something. It’s a circle, so it represents unity and oneness of humanity. The other thing is that it’s on your hand so it’s a reminder to always do good deeds. 

In our faith, we believe that all of humanity is one—there’s one energy and an equality of humanity. I think it’s the most integral part of our faith but it’s also one that resonates with me a lot. My faith is a very big part of who I am; It definitely shapes a lot of the decisions I make, my daily life, my relationships with people. My faith is what represents me and who I am the most. All these interconnected things, the core of who I am, and my beliefs all stem from my faith. 

What’s one belief or value that’s especially important for you? 

There are two huge things in our faith. One is equality and the other thing is humility. Humility would probably be the biggest thing that’s talked about just because in order to achieve that oneness with everyone (this is so spiritual I’m so sorry!), we have to completely rid our ego. Obviously there will always be that ‘I’ and ‘you’ because we’re in this world, but from a more spiritual perspective, there’s the idea that my physical body is not actually me—it’s detached from my soul or being. Something that is so ingrained in us is that we shouldn’t be attached to just a physical thing. So even though objects signify something, like in our faith we have five symbols and those objects signify so much, there’s still an understanding that it’s all temporary. 

Another main thing is the idea of being aware of everything—our ego, our objects, materialism, capitalism, consumerism, our attachment to things, and our desires—but still living within it. You have to learn and live within all these things and the real journey is being able to navigate all of those things. It’s never an end-goal or something we have to achieve, but more of an awareness and evolvement you work towards. The whole belief is that if that energy or divine created everything, then this is all within that divine’s will, so everything is meant to be. Everything—our experiences, the people we interact with, our objects—shapes us, and that’s all a part of that journey.