Can You Ever Be Debt-Free?
All of us want to be debt-free and it is possible. Yet, we accumulate some debts which can never be repaid or closed.
Like a good company with solid financials, being debt-free is a virtue. It enhances the company’s valuation and shores up its stocks. Ironically, the modern economy encourages us to borrow money and enjoy our lives. The economy grows when people continue to spend, often with borrowed money. As long as debts are repaid, there is no problem. So, we continue to borrow.
Bob’s parents had always taught him not to borrow unless it is absolutely necessary. He took it rather seriously and always tried to live within his means. It has not been easy and particularly difficult to deny himself the pleasure of buying things of his choice, say a nice shirt or a music system which he so badly wanted to have. With a mediocre salary and a family to support, he rather bottled his dream of having a Hi-Fi music system to enjoy his favorite music.
Over the years, it became a religion to Bob, “never borrow and never be in debt”. Fortunately or unfortunately, he has not been one of the most individuals who are always in some debt. But what is wrong with debt? After all, the entire banking system thrives on debt in the modern economy. At an individual level, one pays off and takes another debt and then it becomes a habit, always living beyond one’s means. Bob did not find it acceptable. During this cycle of borrowed pleasure (not happiness), if the person loses his job or becomes sick and unable to pay his mortgage, the problem becomes huge, so huge that he can be thrown into the street and it can lead to a destitute life. Bob recalls with a shudder what happened in the sub-prime crisis of the US in 2008, which shook the entire world down; well, almost.
It took Bob nearly five years to save money little by little to buy his dream music system. He enjoys music whenever he feels like it. Bob lives in his own house, has no mortgage, no bank official chasing him to pay his monthly installment, and no notices of default. He had worked quite hard to stay that way. In fact, he has just one credit card to facilitate his financial transactions during emergencies. His difficult journey has brought him lasting peace of mind, so rare to achieve. So, Bob is a happy person in every sense.
Is Bob truly a debt-free person? Apparently yes but not in reality.
When Bob was in the final years of high school, he was a little weak in Mathematics. Although his grade in school was within the top ten, it was certainly not enough to crack the competitive entrance exams to get into an Engineering or Physics major in college. Bob needed tuition but his father could not afford it. In his school, there was a young guest maths teacher, as the regular one went on a long leave. Quite strangely, one afternoon, the young guest teacher asked Bob to meet him after the class was over. This he did and the teacher told him that while his basics were clear, he needed coaching to realize his full potential; he asked him to come to his home over the weekend.
Thus started his ascent. Every weekend the kind young man spent an hour or more, teaching Bob the secrets of scoring high — through practice and diligently perfecting his answers. Bob’s score improved dramatically and he became so good in maths that it became fairly easy for him to crack the entrance exams and get into one of the best Engineering Colleges. The young teacher did not take a penny for private tuition given for a year.
Bob is indeed deeply indebted to the teacher’s kind help but he is not even able to contact him. All he knows is that his Maths Guru later went to the University of Sorbonne in France to do his doctoral work and taught there. Bob remembers him with profound gratitude but could never contact him. Bob remains in debt to this day.
During his professional engineering career, Bob traveled widely in connection with his assignments, working in several countries. During one of these, he was required to visit the site of a proposed port and oil tanker terminal on the east coast of India. He was then all of forty, energetic, always looking positive and get going. On a fine January morning, he arrived at the site — a small fishing port in a natural harbor on the Bay of Bengal, which is known for occasional cyclones and storms. But on that day the weather was brilliant, with a clear blue sky, sunny and light breeze. Everything looked perfect for a visit to the bay area. With two of his colleagues and one representative of the Oil Company, he and his team set out on two-row boats. Little did he know what was waiting for him and his teammates.
The visit was almost getting over when the oil company guy wanted to have some drinking water. There was some bottled drinking water in the other boat. The energetic boatman from the other boat threw the bottle with some gusto towards Bob’s boat. His boatman stood up and swerved towards the right to catch the flying bottle. The boat careened. Bob and the oil company guy fell into the water. Bob did not know how to swim.
The next few minutes were a struggle for survival from drowning and certain death. Bob went straight down with the impact of falling. With field shoes, trousers and camera swung around his neck, Bob felt much heavier than himself and desperately tried to hold his breath, bobbing up to just get some air and going down again. This happened with frightening repetitions until his limbs were about to give up. Death was within handshaking distance and perhaps just a few seconds away. He seemed to hear a faint call from his father whom he lost several years ago as if saying “Don’t gulp water my boy…. Hold your breath”. Bob tried one last time as his dead father implored him from some unknown heaven.
What happened next?
Was Bob rescued? Did he survive?
How much debt did he incur to get saved?
How could he repay such debts?
To know the answers to these questions, please visit :
Author’s Note:
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