AN UNFULFILLED DREAM (Short Story)

Police greed deprived a young man of his ambition to join the Army.

  

ALIVE  March 2014 Page 106

He was sitting in front of me as I waited in the Court, for my turn to come. He had caught my attention for his particularly innocent looks and childlike expression, as soon as I went in. What is this young and decent-looking boy doing here in the court, I wondered, trying to concentrate on the newspaper which I was carrying with me to pass time. May be, he is accompanying someone, I thought. 

“Aunty ji?” My thoughts were disrupted, “Election ka result aa gaya kya?” (Are the election results out?)

“No. Not yet,” I responded willingly, happy at finding an opening to a conversation with him, that I was looking forward to secretly. 

“People are really fed up of the corruption in the country,” he continued.

I could not hold back any further and shot the question that I had been holding back for quite some time, “What brings you here? Some court case?”

He appeared to be just too eager to share his tale of woe and started narrating almost non-stop. 

ALIVE March 2014 Page 107

“Yes, I have been coming here for my court case. Police had booked me for the possession of a knife, four years ago,” he said nonchalantly, but my hackles were up. Such a young boy with innocence writ large on his face possessing an unauthorised weapon, phew!

He was going on, “I am from a village near Mathura. My father expired when I was not even 10 years old and my younger brother had not even learnt to speak. Ma brought both of us up with great difficulty and in stark poverty. My father was a soldier in Indian Army and had left behind a small piece of land, which became the means of our survival. I could not study much as there was only a high school in the village”.

“English theek se nahin bol paata hoon. Ye meri kamzori hai”, (I can’t speak English properly. This is my weakness.)  he added a little consciously. 

“Ma always told me that I must join the Army when I grow up -- like my father. ‘Mera Beta fauji banega’,” (My son will be an armyman) she used to say. But I could not fulfil her dream, thanks to the police in this country.” 

“Because of the police? What did they do?”  My tone was a little stiff now.

Yes, aunty ji, because of the police! Four years ago, I heard in my village that recruitment to the Army is taking place in Delhi. I immediately packed my bag and took the evening bus, which brought me here at midnight. I had to go to my uncle’s house in Govindpuri. Being new to Delhi, I was trying to find out how I could reach there, which bus would go that side.

“Suddenly, a constable came and started roughing me up. I tried to explain but he would not listen. Then he asked me to give him Rs. 500. I did not have even Rs. 100. Therefore, I kept telling him that I do not have it. He got irritated, took me to the police station and put me in the lock-up.

“Next day, with great difficulty, they allowed me to ring up my uncle, who immediately came to the police station. They started asking him also to bribe them and alleged that I was carrying a knife. Yes aunty ji, I did possess a knife but it was a small Swiss knife, which my mother had given me for some exigencies. Is it a crime to carry a small Swiss knife?”

I shook my head, agreeing with what he was saying.

“Par pulis ko koi samjha sakta hai kya?” (But can anyone explain that to the police?)

“Then what happened,” my curiosity got the better of me.

“They kept me in the lock-up overnight. My uncle is a man of principles. He was fully convinced that I had not done any crime and refused to grease their palms. Their expected amount had now increased to Rs.2,000. He, however, managed to arrange a bail for me. Since then, this case has been going on and I have to come from Mathura again and again…..How I wish we had given the required bribe then.” He was sounding exasperated.

Suddenly, a fire alarm started blaring and all were instructed to leave the building immediately. We walked down the two flights of stairs together. While others resorted to pushing and jostling, he very politely walked by my side, as I was not able to move fast due to a sprained foot.

“And thus ended my aspirations for joining the Army.” He had a sad smile on his innocent face.

“So, what do you do now?” my curiosity raised its head again.

“Aunty ji, I was left with no option. Therefore, I went back to the village and started cultivating that piece of land. I have done reasonably well and have purchased the land adjacent to mine as my neighbour’s son had shifted to the city after his father’s death last year. The crop has been good. I have bought a tractor also, through a bank loan,” he shared enthusiastically as we reached the ground floor.

As it was time to part company, he gave me his mobile number and invited me to visit Mathura, promising to take me around to all the temples there. Having enjoyed the conversation for over an hour now, I asked him if I could drop him somewhere, on my way back home.

He shook his head and uttered, “No. There is no need. I have my car. It is parked there,” he pointed to a white Verna, parked a few metres away.

He was sad that he could not join the army to serve the nation. I thought, that by cultivating the land, too, he was serving the nation but did not say anything. 

I felt sad for him, for he had not been able to fulfil his ambition in life but felt happy for his achievement in the field of agriculture. Either way, he was serving the nation though his unfulfilled dream was still haunting him.

*****

(Published in ALIVE March 2014 Issue)

REVERSE MORTGAGE (A Financial Article)

REVERSE MORTGAGE

Your property for a stress-free old age

By Ranjana Bharij

Woman's Era  March ( First) 2014 Page 42

One of the most useful but least publicised of loan schemes for the senior citizens in India is Reverse Mortgage Scheme. The concept is comparatively new but very useful for the senior citizens in need of financial support in the evening of their lives.

Despite meticulous retirement planning, a senior citizen may suddenly find himself short of funds and without any means to borrow from anywhere. The need for financial support may arise on account of any unforeseen circumstances. But not having sufficient funds today is not a handicap for any senior citizen anymore if he/she owns a property in his/her name.  

Under Reverse Mortgage Loan Scheme, a senior citizen can take a loan from the Bank without hesitation and without having to explain the rationale for the expenditure to anyone. The best part of the scheme is that for being eligible for this loan, one need not have a regular source of income either. Moreover, one does not even have to repay this loan if one does not want to or cannot. One can continue to live in one’s house and keep withdrawing the needed amount from the Bank from time to time or in lump-sum. The house eventually pays up the loan on its own.

Does this sound incredible? Let us understand the scheme in detail.

Woman's Era  March ( First) 2014

The first question that arises in one’s mind is whether he/she is eligible for the loan under this scheme called Reverse Mortgage Loan. Anyone is eligible to take a loan under this scheme provided he/she is a senior citizen residing in India and is above the age of 60 years and provided the residential property is in his/her name. It does not matter whether the property is self-acquired or inherited if the title is clear and if it is free of encumbrances. The important factor is that it has to be a self-occupied residential property. A commercial property is not eligible for loan under Reverse Mortgage Scheme.

The loan is usually given for unforeseen medical expenses, for meeting day to day financial needs, for repair or renovation of the house and for all such genuine needs of old age which are not speculative in nature. The loan can also be taken jointly with the spouse. An interesting feature of the scheme is that one need not have any regular source of income.  

Just like any other loan, the lending bank will require some security. For a loan under Reverse Mortgage Scheme, the borrower will be required to mortgage his self-occupied residential property to the bank. Although the property is mortgaged to the Bank, the borrower can continue to stay in the house without any problem during his entire life-time or till such time as the property remains in his name.

The quantum of the loan may vary from Bank to Bank. It can be from Rupees 50 lacs to 2 crores or more depending upon the value of the property and age of the borrowers. Value of the property is usually taken as 75% to 80% of its disposable market value as assessed by the bank and the tenure of the loan which is usually not more than 20 years.

The Bank gives the amount of loan to the borrower as per his/her requirement. The payment could be quarterly, half-yearly, annual or in lump-sum.

Another interesting feature of this loan is that one does not have to repay the loan if one does not want to. It is self-liquidating. A borrower taking a Reverse Mortgage Loan can continue to live in his house despite taking the loan as no repayment is required to be done during his lifetime.  The loan is recovered only after the death of both the spouses.

The repayment of the loan usually becomes due six months after the death of the last surviving borrower/spouse. After the death of the borrower(s), the legal heirs are given the first option to repay the loan and take back the property within six months without sale of the property. If they fail to do so, the bank realises their dues along with accumulated interest by disposing of the property. If some surplus amount is available after adjustment of the loan and interest after sale of the property, it is given back to the legal heirs by the bank. 

*****

(Published in WOMAN'S ERA March (First) 2014 Issue)

Woman's Era  March ( First) 2014

Woman's Era  March ( First) 2014