Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Why my grandfather was a great man!!!

I think frequently about my mindset relating to purchasing properties. I never wilfully wanted to or will ever want to own plots or houses when I have to shell the money to purchase them. If you are asking me, "who else will?",  I am just taking the rare possibility of acquiring a legacy out of this discussion. The fact is I own a flat right now but I would rather spend that money on a holiday, enjoy, and not regret.  I felt this behavioural aspect of me is slightly uncommon, but was stunned to hear from a very genuine source that a recent survey has proved I am part of the majority.  It was difficult to believe because most folks I meet everyday invest in properties having at least a scattered vision on its returns and strongly feel it is necessary to protect their future.

This made me analyse deeper into "why I have this mindset in the first place?". My only reasoning is family. My grandfather never owned a square foot of land. My father owns a house now, but he built it with more anxiety than happiness, which meant it was never his aspiration to build a house.  And he told me he had sleepless nights thinking about his loans and that took away some happiness he had before. Eventually, he got used to the emi's, figured out it is manageable, and got his peace of mind back. That sounds reasonable because when he applied for a bank loan he was already 47.  That thought process eventually got into my head. What astonished me even more is how my grandfather had managed to skip it.

He never owned a square foot of land in his whole life. He lived one of the most complete and happy lives, no big regrets as far as I know. He had two sons, my father being the younger one. What were his achievements in life? He brought up his two sons and knew they would coexist in harmony with him and his wife. Till he passed away, my father and him never shared salary/pension details. He and my grandmother could decide(still my grandmother can) where they wanted to stay at their will, and more importantly, could take care of themselves financially. After retirement, he took my grandmother to bank every time he went, to keep her abreast on every financial detail of them. When he passed away in 2003, my grandmother was not left to suffer alone with too many unknowns and mysteries and uncertainties. She had been well informed of all channels of his, which could make her as independent as she was when he was there. Now, was there a need for her to be independent? actually not, because she had very less or no problems or issues with her sons or daughter in laws. But, the question is, does being independent made her strong and wilful to lead the rest of the life without him, definitely YES. He lived a happy and complete life and planned things for his wife after his death so perfectly and knew his sons would take care of themselves. He never owned a square foot of land in his whole life.

Now, why did he not own any land is a different question. May be he was not financially liable to own one during his earning days, or he did not want to own one. But, for me, the reason is immaterial. We hear, see, like a lot of motivational examples around the world, get inspired by them and try to get influenced by it and motivate us towards our goal. Why do we do this? mostly, because we need them to break the barrier of mindsets our previous generations have created on us, we thrive to be more open to the idea of chasing our dreams. All that is great and positive.  But, personally for me, at least in the subject of owning properties, all I can think of is the example of how my grandfather lived his life and how that simplicity is very aptly supporting my mindset which I am very happy about.  I may change the trend, (I already slightly have by applying for a home loan at 26, but one house is nothing for this generation), by investing more in the future for obvious reasons or good influence, but I am absolutely sure I will be more anxious than happy with that decision.

Some things inside you are like that because of some solid reasons and I absolutely enjoy trying to analyse them and arrive at a self satisfying conclusion.