On Building a House

It is said that fools build houses and wise people stay in them.

This is because the return on money invested in building a house is much less than what one would get if the same amount of money is invested in some other enterprise. When i was serving as a Banker, once i asked one of my clients, as to why he was staying in a rented house instead of building a house and staying in it. His answer was a revealing one for me. He replied, "If I build a house, it will be wealth; I will not get any income from this wealth. I shall have to divert a part of my capital for this. If I invest this amount in my business, I shall get more return, which will be more than the rent I am paying."For me, it was virtually a lesson on 'Capital and Wealth'.

I do not know whether i am a fool or wise man but recently by mixing a loan from my Bank with a lot of my sweat, I constructed a house.

It was a unique experience. Whenever a phase was completed, i experienced a sense of accomplishment and a sense of satisfaction.

When the house was completed i had the satisfaction of having done something concrete (both figuratively as well as literally ), a thing which can be seen, touched and felt by others. As a Banker, i had helped a number of people to build their houses but had not experienced this kind of satisfaction.

This reminded me of a man who had 4 children none of whom was a success in any field of life. Because of this, he experienced a sense of vacuum. To overcome this feeling, he took to building houses. Each house that he completed, gave him that sense of satisfaction and accomplishment which none of his children had given him.

A house is really not 'complete' till a family occupies it. It is said that men may build houses but it is only a woman who can make a home!