My friend Atharv is a decent person by nature, always concerned for his family and always helpful to his friends. I have known him since we were sixteen in the same school.
We weren’t in contact during the college years where I went towards writing and he went for engineering, however later we became friends again a few years before his marriage.
He has, I won’t say good, but a well-paying job in an IT company. He has a new house, a new car, a happy life and a constant debt. Is it the same debt you may ask, no it isn’t, at least not completely, the house and the car are long term but other things also get added alongside. He and his wife always saw Emi as the means of getting more out of their lives.
Atharv and his wife, both are working but somehow each year they end up accumulating debt. I think Atharv’s credit cards of eight different banks have something to do with it, but we all know it’s not the cards or a financial entrapment, but the person himself.
Now, what does this person want, more debt? Obviously not, but this person isn’t focussing on that, he is just focussing on the joy in exchange for spending the amount which he does not presently have.
Does Atharv realise what he is doing? Yes, he does a few times a year when things go overboard, he has this conversation with me ‘how am I going to pay debt and at the same time maintain the unavoidable expenditures?’
I have never offered him money but I have given him my advice which he thought was great, but it was as simple as anything simple could be, don’t burden yourself with unnecessary expenditures till you have cleared your present ones. There are also other things I said like no need to buy a new car right now, buy a second hand, or no need to get that fancy new apartment, rent can be a good option for now. But who listens.
The part which actually irritates me is when he calls for planning a tour despite all the financial burdens and when I ask, ‘have you saved some money for it’, he replies ‘I’ll manage somehow’. Yeah, this ‘somehow management’ of money is a big problem not only in the life of my friend but in the lives of many and I think it is here to remain forever.
Written by Anuran Chatterji
Managing Somehow
Early Morning Memories 
One response to “Managing Somehow”
Does he complain often? Is he content with the way that he is living his life- regardless of the debt incurred? Some people couldn’t handle living like this, and for some people it’s better they have all this stuff then not? But I can see how it would be frustrating to stand by and watch this unfold!
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