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Let me see: four times five is twelve, and four times six is thirteen, and four times seven is--oh dear! I shall never get to twenty at that rate!
- Alice in Wonderland
"Yes I agree it will be double the amount, but after a few years you will be having your own house", my best friend tried to convince me.
At the end of the day, I could pay a 10k rent and have the luxury of moving to a better house whenever I want but not have a house I can call mine; or, I can take loan and start paying 20k every month towards loan repayment and somewhere after 15 - 20 yrs, the house would be mine. It is simple arithmetic. A 4-year old could tell me, living in a rental house is the better option. Not only a 4-year old, but good old people say, 'fools build the house and wise live in it'.
But what is it that still sometimes makes me feel like having a house of my own? Recently I had been to a friend's house for dinner. A typical ex-software engineer, now a senior project manager. A small and adorable family of four. The kids are amazing! Seriously I got to learn a lot of things just by looking at what they were doing. This guy has a beautiful place to live in. Gosh! What a neat little nest they have got! As far as I know, he didn't inherit it from his parents. Not even from his father-in-law! (Yeah, kinda stupid that way, but surprisingly that is how it is in and around my family too.) Nevertheless, by the time he has crossed 35, his life has the clause '...and they lived happily ever after.'
My dad has a lot of experience in building houses. No, he wasn't a civil engineer or an architect, but working in a bank as a manager, he managed to build two houses and sell them and purchase another house and sell that too. Considering this background I approached him to know his thoughts on having ones' own house. With a smile he said, these things will happen whenever the time comes. At one point of time in his life, the employees' society in the bank offered plots starting at Rs.35000 which would come to nearly Rs.290 every month for 10 years. But his take home salary was Rs.270. Nothing much has changed now. Just a few zeros have crept on the right side of these figures. Even in the outer areas of the city, the plots rates now start at 35 lakhs and I would need to pay 20k a month over 15 years.
I felt Alice was so right in her calculations when she said 'I shall never reach 20 at that rate'.
I wish I won a lottery ticket or something and get so much money that every needs and desires could be satisfied. Just after a few minutes of this dream, I was able to see the darker side of it. Even if I had enough money to buy a beautiful house, I would still have to travel early in the morning to reach my workplace. I would still have to take my family out for dinner and shopping in the same traffic. I would still have the responsibility of getting a good education and decent upbringing for the kids. Even with millions of dollars, I may not be able to avoid the day to day minor clashes in the family. A problem in the TV or refrigerator can be fixed in no time with money but can't be avoided. You can fix the problems of no water and power cuts, but cannot stop the heavy rain. Money can only go so far.
Then what way would money and more money help me? It doesn't. It will just change my life style a great deal. Older problems and concerns get solved and newer problems with different flavors will start. The need for money is rather helping me come to office everyday and try impressing my boss! I would give a damn to the project deliverables or appraisals, I know, if I am already fully satiated. Always having something to be done, moving towards an unfulfilled dream, hoping to conquer it, keeps me alive and in good spirit.
I have now settled in a rental house. I can now start at 7:20 in the morning and in the evening I can reach home in an hour.
"Some people think I only have a few dollars... but the fact is I have a few more!"
To health and wealth! Cheers!!
