How I Chose To Spend On Travel than on Anything Else

It is no easy feat being born in India, and avoid social pressures. In more than a few forms, people tend to force you for a lot of things that you are not willing to do. I was raised in a conventional Indian family where parents start saving money for their kids since their birth or even before that. I realized this fact that my father was willing to spend a fortune on my wedding, precisely 55-60 lakhs INR! He had saved all this money making efforts throughout his life, but he still fell short by a few lakhs, for which he planned to take loans! I cannot explain what I went through when I got this knowledge for the first time; it was when I was in school. Although I still had more than 7-8 years in hand before I tied the knot, I could not take it out of my mind that my father wishes to go through unnecessary agony because of just one day of grand celebrations.

Travel and education

I had only two dreams in life- to travel around the world and to learn as many skills as I can. Travel would come later since I was too young to wander around alone, at least according to Indian standards. However, I could convince my father to educate me to the best. He never refused to pay for my school and college, but somewhere he would try to save money on both. Every Indian parent has a hidden agenda that he or she should save money on everything by any means so that they can save the maximum amount for his or her kid’s marriage celebration. The same was the case with my parents, but I decided to change their mindset with the help of my maternal uncle.

My mother’s brother is an IAS officer in Bhopal, and hence, I decided to call him to talk to my father regarding my studies. Long story cut short, it took me one meeting with that uncle, and a few weeks of convincing to have my father agree for my education in Delhi. Since I belong to Meerut, it was not so easy to persuade him to let me go out of the city for coming few years, or probably all my life. Anyway, after I had graduated from Hindu College and done my post-graduation from Jawaharlal Nehru College, it was the turn to find a job that would let me travel.

Travel job

It feels like a dream to write my life story like this, but finding a job in a TV channel was not that difficult as I had thought. Since I was fluent in Japanese language, it took me only a few interviews to crack a well-paying job. Now that I travel a lot, I thought of bringing my parents as well for a foreign trip. They did not agree to go to Europe at first, but I took them along to Pune with me the previous October. The looks on their faces were invaluable as they wandered around places in Car Rental Pune without worrying about money as I had assured them that the trip was company-sponsored (which was actually not the case). It feels pleasant to lie to your loved ones sometimes.

Now, after six years of my schooling, they realize that their child is settled well in life. They take my words more seriously than before, and I finally convinced them to forget the pressures of society and let me marry in a low-key celebration with the close family only. Needless to say that they agreed! It is the most significant achievement in my life to have a dowry-free, happy wedding.