Our 3BHK Story :)

Today, I felt like writing again in this blog, not for anybody else but for myself. What if this is my digital diary, I would like to read on my deathbed? It could tell me how I have grown as a person over the years. It could tell me how my thoughts have evolved over a period of time. 

I recently watched '3BHK' Tamil movie starring Siddarth, and a lot of memories from my past just resurfaced. The movie was heartwarming and easy to connect with, and luckily, it ended on a very happy note. The movie is about Vasudevan and his family, who struggle their way through various hurdles to finally buy their own house in Chennai. As I was watching the movie, I remembered a lot of memories from my childhood and growing-up years, where having our own house was such a dream for all of us. 

My dad worked in a Government job and right after his first appointment in Goa, he settled in Bangalore. From the time he came to Bangalore in 1981 till the time we bought our first house in 2006, he had changed around 23 rented houses. My mom and dad had lived in very tiny places when they initially got married. That was the stage where dad was working 9-5 in office, learning typing classes afterwards, was working on his insurance business as a side hustle just to make ends meet. 

In 1999, dad took his first plot in Bannerghatta road and started constructing his dream house. I was barely 7 years old then and my only job was to accompany him in his scooter when he went there every week to supervise the progress. Back then, ours was probably the second or third house on that entire street, and it was so deserted. I don't know how dad could give so much energy towards building that house with all the work he was juggling. Almost a year later, our first house was constructed and we named it 'Nisarga.' We were so happy that we finally have our own house. 

But how is this even a story if this could end happily so easily?

We could stay in that house for only 11 days. Yes, our own house built with so much love but we could stay only for 11 days. The house was extremely far and in a remote place with the main road 2 kms away and with absolutely zero access to emergency healthcare, a provisional store etc. After Gruhapravesham, I fell sick and my parents realized the house was very far to his office, my school and my sister's college and every day commute was a big challenge. So just after 11 days, they decided that at that point in time, we cannot stay in that house and we came back to the same rented premise we were earlier staying in BTM Layout. My mom was extremely sad. All the hopes and excitement came down crashing. A few years later, we sold the house and with that ended my dad's interest of constructing his own house. 

After I was born, we have shifted 4 rented houses. In 2004, Dad took a very tough decision of his life by opting for VRS (Voluntary Retirement Service). He was 47 then. My sister was in her PU and I was in school. He had carefully weighed down the pros and cons in a sheet of paper and even ran it through us and took us into confidence. My mom was against this and me and my sister knew he is a superhero and he would do wonders. His idea was that the upfront retirement benefit, coupled with a housing loan could help us with our own house we were dreaming of. By then, he had built his trusted clientele and he wanted to take it full-time and build his business.

 From 2004 to 2006, Dad had seen 100+ apartments in Bangalore in order to find that one house which fulfilled our dreams and was within our budget. Finally, we found our house in Raja Prakruthi Apartments near Ashoka Pillar in Jayanagar, Bangalore. It was love at first sight. I remember seeing the apartment for the first time and it felt like a dream come true because we had never stayed in an apartment with so many amenities. Flat cost was 45 lakhs. The entire retirement benefits of 21 Lakhs and a housing loan of 25 lakhs was put into this dream. I still remember that, with all the money being put in for the house, the entire bank balance was over, and we did not have 25,000 for the registration. My dad's best friend helped in and helped us sail through the difficult situation. We named the house 'Shreyas.'

At that point in time, Dad was 50 years of age, he had taken VRS with no regular income, we had a house of our own, a housing loan of 25 lakhs to repay, 2 kids who were still studying, and a business he had to make it work in order to prove everything right. 

So he made his first 5-year plan inspired by the Government's 5-year plan. He set every intention he had on paper and started tirelessly working towards it. Now you know, from where I get my detailed planning characteristic :P . He had written that by next 5 years, he would clear off the housing loan, which was such a bold intention to set back then. He wanted to build a corpus for my sister's wedding. 

By 2009, he had successfully completed his 1st 5-year plan exactly the way he had envisioned. The business had picked up well, dad was getting so much time off work to take care of our needs(which was not the case before), he started Yoga, meditation and walking and he set his next 5-year plan. This 5 year plan had my sisters wedding, a house to my sister who had just gotten married and taking care of my education (which was slightly not tough as I chose CA, which is comparatively a lesser costly course in India). By 2012, he bought a house for my sister. She named the house 'Kanasu.'   

By 2014, he had successfully completed his 2nd 5-year plan also the way he had thought of and he built higher dreams. He had now aimed for an upgrade to a 3 BHK apartment in Prestige Falcon City, Konankunte Cross, which seemed a very big dream back then in 2015. This was again a much bigger dream than what we could have afforded back then. He did not stop. He had faith and the risk-taking ability that paved the way through every big installment that came in every 2 months. 

By 2021, we moved into our first 3BHK house with a lot of excitement and happiness. We named this house 'Akshaya.' Dad was relieved after a long time. He carefully managed the housing loan EMI's without a miss. He only had 1 goal that he needed to close the housing loan sooner(which he did achieve in 2025). 

After this, Dad had told no more 5-year plans, and he said he had accomplished everything he aspired to. But God had other plans.

There was another dream in the making, 'Dhaatri', which wanted another 5-year plan from his side. This is another story for another day on how this dream was born.

Nothing came easily. Everything came after so much of planning, taking risks, those late nights and that faith and belief that 'It is possible.' With all this, there was one man who was fighting against all odds to give a comfortable life to his family. That man turns 69 today :)

Happy Birthday Appa :)