How Kerala turns asset into a liability
Hey there, this is Visakh and this is the next article in the series on Minimalism. Minimalism or Essentialism is the concept of living with the necessities in life. It’s something that has to be experienced rather than spoken about. The peace it derives is immense but only if you are up to it.
Today we talk about our age-old asset — Gold. Southern India especially states like Kerala go crazy when gifting gold. You might be familiar with the jewelry ads where we play the game of “spot the girl” covered in gold during weddings. Yes, and that is a reality. People gift an entire jewelry shop to the girl child during their weddings. The weddings are coupled with a lot of other crazy stuff like — “save the date”, “fancy groom cars” and so on. None of which adds value to these events in the actual sense. In the race to show off one’s caliber, marriages these days don’t even have a basic “melam” which actually gives a sense of the auspicious event. Anyways marriages are a different topic that might require a long series of articles.
The Bride’s Father
A typical family saves a lot of money or loans it during marriages. This is in different forms right from mortgaging property to selling off valuables so that they can buy gold for their children. The father who is the “beneficiary” of such “loans” spends another good portion of his life paying it off because usually, the children take it as a birthright to be gifted :P. A part of all this “tradition” involves the need to belong to a particular strata of the society. A society that doesn’t just judge on the gold gifted but also on the amount of gold gifted (called “pavan”) and also the designs. You can see it’s a big game of satisfaction. Similar to the bride’s side, the groom’s side also follows the same rituals probably less in quantity.
What Rubbish …
Now you might be thinking, what the hell Visakh, gold is an asset. It’s never a loss. Well, let’s put it this way. An asset is only useful if you are financially literate. The gold usually goes into the gold lockers of the bank which charge an annual maintenance. The yellow metal just lies there for years with the banks charging locker charges every year. The families then spend time and effort visiting their lockers to check if it’s safe :P.
It doesn’t end there, putting that gold to any use is seen as an insult to the family. The society immediately judges that the couple has no income because of which they are using the gold. So basically you cannot use the gold for anything until it’s absolutely necessary as per the “society”. Hence it becomes a liability. You have it but you still don’t quiet have it. You get what I mean?
It’s good that parents feel like gifting to their children as a form of blessing. But think about it. Wouldn’t it be better to gift something that is useful to the couple? Gold jewellery usually come with immense making charges that vary from 5% all the way to 14%. This money is just down the drain because the jewellery shop deducts the making charges when you go the sell the gold. Coupled with that is the locker charges. Along with that is the occasional jewellery wear and tear etc. On another level Gold has paved the way for many crimes of dowry deaths too. Is it worth it to sacrifice your children for a piece of metal?
Yeah So? There is nothing else do either …
But what is the solution Visakh? Well there are many. A common feeling is the returns the metal will be giving in future. For this you have many instruments like-mutual funds, gold ETFs, smallcases which take the power of compounding and will guarantee you returns that the yellow metal can never give. The best part is how these instruments allow you to do SIPs (systematic investment planning) whereby you can invest a small portion of money every month. You can start this when your baby girl is born by calculating the amount of money you want to gift her and accordingly decide on an SIP amount. Now most of you will feel no it’s all risky and we will lose money and all. Well for the “no-risk” people there are govt schemes like — Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana where the govt gives a fixed interest rate — currently 7.6% for a girl child. The options are plenty.
All you need to do is to break away from the stereotypical mentality of the society. Rather than investing in gold for your child, invest in her education and make her stand on her own feet. Respect her decision to get married when she feels it’s the right time. Inculcate in her the habit of investing so she herself can pay off her wedding and take care of the family. The girl child can do equally well as your son. Don’t be surprised if she does even better.
There is no need to do a fancy wedding and feed thousands who have excess amount of food in their life. Instead do a wedding at an auspicious place like a temple and feed the needy. The blessings will double and your girl will start her life with genuine blessings which arise out of gratitude. Gift something that they can use to further generate income and put to good use rather than stuff which satisfies the society.
Thank you for being this far. A lot of my articles are going to feel really stupid as they challenge the foundations of our society. My posts are on a minimilistic life and the ways to achieve it. An asset can soon become a liability if it’s not used wisely. Gold is no different. Put a thought to it and break the chain. And remember — nothing you have will leave with you. The lesser you have the better you live.
