Two Of A Different Kind - Part 2

“The government has reduced the interest on F.D’s”, I remarked to Rohan as I was flitting through the newspaper sitting on my desk. Rohan nodded. “In these times, it feels better to have a life insurance plan that gives you guaranteed results, like the one Vivek has purchased. Vivek had recently purchased an annuity plan as part of his retirement plans”, I remarked without lifting my gaze from the newspaper. “After paying premium for 20 years, he would get a regular guaranteed amount monthly on maturity, after his retirement”, I continued.. “Nah! The returns are still far less than what I would make on the stock markets for the same number of years”. Life insurance just simply beats me”, Rohan remarked. Rohan made no bones about his anti-life insurance stance. “I can’t understand why on earth would you put your money into something that is not going to give you any kind of decent returns”, he continued.

He looked at his watch. It was time for lunch. As if on cue, I got up and picked up my lunch box and we both walked towards his desk. He picked up his and we entered the cafeteria. “But life insurance does offer tax savings”, I continued the discussion. “And so does PPF’, he said as he picked up a dollop of paneer from my lunch box. He loved the paneer dishes that my wife cooked. “Hows your kid doing with his cough?”, he asked as if to just change the topic. “Okay types. The doctor said that he has an allergic cough which will keep surfacing form time to time till he’s at least 10 years of age. After that, the bouts will die down. How about your daughter? Has she completely recovered from dengue”, I enquired. Rohan scowled and shook his head. “Thankfully, it’s in control, but she still feels weak. She’s still not strong enough to resume school.”

Just then, both of our phones rang. It was a message from our boss. He had called for a meeting in another hours time.” Blast these post-lunch meetings!”, Rohan cursed. “As it is, I find it difficult to keep myself awake and to top it up; these meetings further make me sleepy.” “You are right. Even I find it difficult to stay awake in these meetings. There is hardly anything of consequence that comes out of these post-lunch meetings”, I whined.

We both finished the rest of our lunch quickly as we had to make a little bit of preparation for the scheduled meeting. By the time the meeting finished, both of us were half-asleep. Luckily, another of our friend had not brought his car and he wanted a ride in mine. We gladly gave him the keys and sat in the car and dozed off.

Read Part 3 here

Swati Tumar - Travel & Finance Writer   

Swati is a Writer in the day and an illustrator at night. Among her interests, she is quite fond of art and all things creative. She often indulges herself in creating doodles, illustrations, and other forms of content. She identifies herself as an avid traveler and shameless foodie.