M91/6 was very lucky

#155

The apartment I currently reside is bang opposite the famed RBI staff quarters. Besant Nagar was as suburban in 1960s than a Thoraipakkam or Siruseri today before RBI opened a residential quarter for their officers in the late 1960s. Besant nagar was famous for three things at the dawn of 1970 – RBI staff quarters, Astalaxmi temple and the cremation ground. Then in the 80s-90s this part of city became SUPER PREMIUM for its proximity to the Beach and later in the 2000s with the advent of Tidel Park and IT parks on ECR and OMR. Today Besant Nagar is perhaps the hottest place for a youngster, he/she finds the beach an ideal dating place with every kind of fast foods and eatery in the vicinity, the New Year celebrations in Besant Nagar is on a global scale (meaning every Chennaiite anywhere on the planet will talk of Besant Nagar New Year celebrations). In these 4-5 decades this part of the city has grown astronomically – one of my friends bought two and half grounds in Palavakkam for 30-40 k whose market value is over 9 crores today.

            Anyway I got distracted singing the glory of Besant Nagar but for a justifiable reason. I am finally moving out after spending the last 3 decades of my life here. Strangely I am happy moving out, there is too much vehicular traffic here, too much people movement and my heart aches for a bit of solace and quietness and a lot more trees which my new residence accommodates. As for me, my photographic memories of Besant nagar is walks on Theosophical Society lawns (I was a regular for years) and Swami Paramarthananda’s spiritual talks.

            Now let me get focused on what I had in mind when I started this blog post: my current apartment has been very fortunate, in the 12 months I spent here I have grown as a person and importantly on the wealth front. For the first time in my life I have a money making skill; Gods be infinitely thanked for this. I also had a lot of travels in 2019 and I will put down this apartment M91/6 in 2019 as the best of my three decades stay in Besant nagar.

             The registration for GREEN PARK is getting pushed by the week. If I get a HDFC housing loan, the papers will be signed tomorrow. If I don’t make it to the loan – strangely banks lend on the basis of salaries of employees or IT returns of businesses when more people are getting fired and more businesses turning red. I have a skill which is only now showing good returns but “banks play by the safety of numbers” than make an allowance of skills- then I borrow 5 lacs for a personal loan and finish this matter. I most certainly will shift to GREEN PARK in Palavakkam before Christmas or on 31/12 as the last of my Fixed Deposit matures on 28/12. So that’s how things stand today. I am comfortable with both though a housing loan would make my life infinitely easier.

            I narrate this personal tale just to make this point. Raghu who I befriended just a little over two months said of his own volition without any nudging, “Sathya, if you fall short of 4-5 lacs, I will be happy to loan it to you.” I was talking about GREEN PARK housing finance as I briefed him on the  HDFC housing loan before he made this voluntary offer. No one in my life has placed such trust on me. I will never risk such a confidence, I will go for the Personal loan but Raghu’s words cooled my hearts like never before. Here was a person who is extraordinarily good in today’s rat race world of selfishness and it is that act that I wished to record for a blog post.

            I visited my mother this Sunday and she looks on the edge. Her face is shrunk from no teeth at all. I was there only for 30 min fearing that my sister would make an appearance any moment and my mood was revolting against that encounter. So I sneaked in like a thief and sneaked out. Next day I spoke to my sister in ages saying, “I am buying an apartment and would you come if I invite you for a puja in the middle of January?” This is no noble gesture from my end except a little warmth with a sister which will not make me feel like a sneaking thief in my next month’s visit to Adambakkam.
            I feel sorry that Thangam's tenure as a cook comes to an end with this shift to Palavakkam. She is a classy person though she was plagued with bad health this year. I gave her a 25 k bonus for 10 years of faithful service, also an assurance, "Please contact me anytime if there is a financial emergency. I will be more than happy to lend." Thangam speaks little; there's a lot for me to learn in terms of daily discipline, commitment to family and she carries more grace than I can ever muster in any social setting. She was good, even great and it will be sad missing her company. Now I pray for a new cook with some proportion of these qualities; it's vitally important that a person with a good heart cooks your daily food. 

            As the year comes to an end, I spent over Rs. 3,000 on books – I got one on Alexander the Great and another on Hannibal. I also ordered some stock trading books. This is one domain I have thirst for learning, I don't wish to squander this state of mind by distracting myself elsewhere. I have a wish in 2020 – buy one BBC documentary or a National Geographic Special each month I gross 4 lacs in monthly earnings. These DVDs don’t cost much except a delivery service from a UK or USA but I would treasure them with my life. I also have a couple of material goals for 2020 – finalize the Kumbakonam villa deal, then have a two wheeler for transportation to gyms and nearby restaurants (in Besant Nagar everything was walking distance) and finally afford a car. Car is a luxury I can live without but I would like to have that experience before I can cast it aside. The purpose of this post was 2019 was an extraordinarily good year for me, M91/6 was inordinately fortunate for at long last I got something out of the marketplace for an earning.