When I read or hear about folks splurging on luxury vacations I frequently find myself torn by jealousy, admiration and a bit of resignation sometimes all at the same time ...
Having seen my father work hard through my younger days trying to build the life I have today, I am mentally indisposed to splurging in general. I've seen my father conduct endless surveys on pretty much every appliance we thought about purchasing or a vacation that we wanted to undertake during the summer holidays. My mother and I sarcastically called them '5-year plans'. I've seen him rub 10 rupee notes furiously to make sure he accidentally didn't overpay a vegetable vendor. I've seen him bargain passionately to save a pittance. I've seen him flip-flop on a decision to buy a personal computer so many times that I mostly gave up on the dream. It exasperated me when I was a kid and it still does when I hear my mother rant about it.
It no longer makes me angry though. I guess he had his reasons and maybe the environment in which he grew up in imbibed these traits in his character. Knowingly or unknowingly though, some of those attitudes have made an impression somewhere in the recesses of my brain too. Having reached a reasonable point in terms of cash-flow, where the odd splurge shouldn't really be a financial deal-breaker, I still find myself unable to click the OK button so as to speak.
I terribly envy my friends when they go on impromptu vacations or weekend getaways for celebrating their anniversaries or throw random parties for no genuine celebratory reason. I admire their guts to take those decisions. I've heard enough about "You live only once" but it still doesn't pull me out of my reluctance.
Will my own wife and children resent me for this attitude in the future? I'm sure I am a diluted version of my father, but isn't this a new age where companies are building products we never thought we needed? Will I be able to pull off the character of the large-hearted dad/uncle for the next generation or will I be the miserly old penny-pinching crow? Somewhere in the grey area between the two I guess ...
Having seen my father work hard through my younger days trying to build the life I have today, I am mentally indisposed to splurging in general. I've seen my father conduct endless surveys on pretty much every appliance we thought about purchasing or a vacation that we wanted to undertake during the summer holidays. My mother and I sarcastically called them '5-year plans'. I've seen him rub 10 rupee notes furiously to make sure he accidentally didn't overpay a vegetable vendor. I've seen him bargain passionately to save a pittance. I've seen him flip-flop on a decision to buy a personal computer so many times that I mostly gave up on the dream. It exasperated me when I was a kid and it still does when I hear my mother rant about it.
It no longer makes me angry though. I guess he had his reasons and maybe the environment in which he grew up in imbibed these traits in his character. Knowingly or unknowingly though, some of those attitudes have made an impression somewhere in the recesses of my brain too. Having reached a reasonable point in terms of cash-flow, where the odd splurge shouldn't really be a financial deal-breaker, I still find myself unable to click the OK button so as to speak.
I terribly envy my friends when they go on impromptu vacations or weekend getaways for celebrating their anniversaries or throw random parties for no genuine celebratory reason. I admire their guts to take those decisions. I've heard enough about "You live only once" but it still doesn't pull me out of my reluctance.
Will my own wife and children resent me for this attitude in the future? I'm sure I am a diluted version of my father, but isn't this a new age where companies are building products we never thought we needed? Will I be able to pull off the character of the large-hearted dad/uncle for the next generation or will I be the miserly old penny-pinching crow? Somewhere in the grey area between the two I guess ...
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