EMIs eat into marketing executive’s holidays, hilsa

Guwahati, June 27: RK Karmakar, 43, and a marketing executive with an FMCG company, never wanted to take a home loan for constructing the first-floor of his house in the heart of the city. But the lack of proper drainage in the Assam capital reduced his once-posh locality into a water-logged one. So, he had little choice but to go for extension work. He finally approached HDFC for a loan in February 2005. By then, the prices of construction material had already soared much higher than what he had estimated, forcing him to go for a second loan in September 2006.

“Initially, I took a loan of Rs 9.9 lakh, opting for a variable interest rate of 8.25 per cent with an EMI of Rs 8,436. But that hardly lasted about 18-19 months, when the bank enhanced the interest rate to 10.50 per cent,” Karmakar said. And with three revisions since he borrowed, his EMI has jumped from Rs 8,436 to Rs 10,235, sending his plans haywire.

Worse, spiralling prices of construction material compelled Karmakar to go for a second loan of Rs 9 lakh within 18 months of the first loan. “In May 2007, when I went for the second loan, carrying an interest rate of 9.5 per cent, the EMI was Rs 8,390. The rate, however, has jumped in the last two years, and today, I am paying 10.75 per cent, and the EMI has gone up to Rs 9,444,” says Karmakar, who has a family of five, including aged mother and two sons aged seven and two. His wife contributes her bit — a few hundred rupees — to the family income by working in a private preparatory school in the neighbourhood.

Rising interest rates and EMIs have changed the entire lifestyle of the Karmakars. “The first and foremost thing that I was compelled to do is to cut down on my SIP (systematic investment plans),” he said, pointing out that he had already opted out of two SIPs in the past two years. His monthly investment of Rs 7,000 has almost been halved to Rs 4,000 now.

Rising food prices have ensured that hilsa or a chitol (fish varieties) are now more associated with feasts. “Eating fish is part of our custom and cultural identity. But of late, we have almost forgotten what an ilish (Assamese for hilsa) or a chitol looks like. These two class I fish today cost anywhere between Rs 300 and Rs 400 per kg, and we have thus made their entry into our kitchen only an annual ritual, managing the normal menu with the less costly lashim-bhangon or rou,” he added.

... contd.

Ads By Google

Message*	Maximum characters allowed

Name*		Email ID*
Subject*		Country*

TERMS OF USE:
The views, opinions and comments posted are your, and are not endorsed by this website. You shall be solely responsible for the comment posted here. The website reserves the right to delete, reject, or otherwise remove any views, opinions and comments posted or part thereof. You shall ensure that the comment is not inflammatory, abusive, derogatory, defamatory &/or obscene, or contain pornographic matter and/or does not constitute hate mail, or violate privacy of any person (s) or breach confidentiality or otherwise is illegal, immoral or contrary to public policy. Nor should it contain anything infringing copyright &/or intellectual property rights of any person(s).

I agree to the terms of use.