Monsoon memoirs!

Yes, it’s messy, muddy and often plays spoilsport but there’s another side to the season. A side that we reminisce on; the romance of the rains that brings out the philosopher in each one of us. This evening, as it pours, we will etch you a fantastic tapestry of the Indian monsoon, woven with threads of nostalgia. So you can enjoy the weather and culinary experience it brings to us with the onset of the season, sitting a thousand miles away!

You wake up at 7. Snooze the alarm and fall asleep again. Everything else in the world falls back before your comfort and the love of your comforter. You want to sleep like a baby while the rains sing a lullaby for you. For us, Indians, monsoon means comfort, fun, colors and happiness. Walk out on any typical rainy day and the streets are a riot of colors. Somewhere within, it instills hope. Why else would someone buy an umbrella with the color of a rainbow if not to battle a grey day!

As you walk through the same lane, fulfilling your responsibilities- the usual of an everyday mendicant- you pass through a familiar smell. Smell that spells rain. Fried food from the ubiquitous vendors that seem to pop up in every office lane. Mouthwatering. Ignoring it as you walk pass, in a very old wall maybe, you look carefully and see moss. You awaken the child within and run your hand along for that velvety feel. Smiling in the rains for no reason is absolutely justified.

While at work you keep looking at that big window and feast your eyes on the torrential downpour, a sudden splash drench you as you step out after a busy day. Quite surprisingly it brings a smile across your face. You hail a tuktuk and sit in it refreshed. The driver draws the plastic curtains in order to save you but you push it away instead- loving the feeling of the cool wind full of water droplets. Maybe stop somewhere for a bowl of hot soup!

You reach home and take little pleasures in all the rain related culinary delights, pull a shawl over you and read a book and fall asleep with the heavenly lullaby. Thank God for the rains.

The Best NRI Investments

It has long been debated about what is the best NRI investment. Is it gold, or is it real estate? Like with all things in life, there are differing views. While experts might suggest going with an easier & safer option like Gold; my own view is that one should go in for property instead of gold.

Let me explain some simple reasons I have:

Gold may be easy to buy with many online services and may be a safe option to invest in because it will only appreciate. But so will property. The Indian government has now made it easier for NRIs to reduce the paperwork, the red tape, and the formalities. That, combined with more and more builders and real estate developers making NRI-friendly projects where plans, payment schedules etc are tailor-made for NRIs is all making property just as compelling an investment choice as gold.
Now let us examine the safety of a gold investment vs. that of property. Again, I admit that experts say Gold is safer, and there is probably some truth in it too. But property, if bought in consultation with your well informed relatives/family/friends advice back home in India; can be much more rewarding as a return of investment, and in terms of appreciation than gold. By studying the market carefully and taking the help of a good realtor, an NRI can really get into some extremely lucrative propositions.
My last reason is personally the most important one. NRIs like me miss India. It’s as plain and simple as that. So to me, buying property in India, especially if it is in the same city as my family, or in an area where I intend to live, or in a place that I grew up; becomes the single most emotionally satisfying & fulfilling decision. And the intangible fulfilment of that emotion just cannot be measured in monetary terms. It is invaluable!

Add to that the fact that you are investing in what will in all likelihood be a sure shot good-investment; to me, there remains no debate – I would buy property over gold, any day.