Loan Is A Disease & Cure Is Simple

𝐋𝐨𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲, 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞—𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐭, 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐬.

𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐮𝐞:

Human beings once worked with their hands, exchanged with their hearts, and lived within their means. Then came a trap: the idea of borrowing against the future. A loan. What began as a tool of temporary relief has turned into one of the deadliest diseases of modern civilization—quiet, invisible, and more contagious than any virus.

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𝟏. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐁𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐬: 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚 𝐋𝐨𝐚𝐧

Like a disease, a loan starts in the mind long before it enters the body of your life.

𝐒𝐲𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧:

Dissatisfaction with what one has.

Comparison with neighbors, relatives, and society.

An artificial dream planted by advertisements—“you can have it now.”

The illusion of security: “If I take a loan, my problems will be solved.”

This is the incubation period. The virus of debt whispers: “Why wait? Why work harder? Why not take it now?”

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𝟐. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐃𝐨𝐬𝐞: 𝐒𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐚𝐧 𝐏𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬

When a person takes the first loan, it feels like relief—just as a painkiller gives temporary comfort. But like morphine, it does not cure; it only numbs.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡: A car, a house, a degree abroad, a flashy wedding, an instant lifestyle upgrade.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲: The moment you sign, your future hours, your sweat, your health, your peace are mortgaged.

The disease now enters the bloodstream. The borrower becomes a patient.

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𝟑. 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐜 𝐈𝐥𝐥𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬: 𝐋𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐋𝐨𝐚𝐧

Once inside, the disease spreads. Installments, interests, late fees—each is like a symptom that weakens you slowly.

𝐌𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐲𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐬: Stress, anxiety, sleepless nights, mood swings.

𝐏𝐡𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐲𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐬: Hypertension, diabetes triggered by stress, premature aging.

𝐒𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐲𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐬: Family quarrels, hiding from relatives, endless fights about money.

𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐲𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐬: Loss of inner freedom, constant fear of tomorrow, inability to live in the present.

Every EMI is a pill you must swallow monthly, whether you are sick, unemployed, or in grief.

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𝟒. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐮𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: 𝐌𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐚𝐧𝐬

Like cancer spreading to different organs, debt rarely stays at one loan.

Credit card debt mutates into a personal loan.

Home loan mutates into top-up loan.

Car loan mutates into refinancing.

Education loan mutates into lifelong wage slavery.

Soon, the patient forgets where the disease began—every financial vein carries traces of it.

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𝟓. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: 𝐋𝐨𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐇𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐭

Strangely, debt becomes addictive. Just as a smoker reaches for another cigarette, a borrower reaches for another loan.

“I handled one, I can handle another.”

“EMIs are normal, everyone has them.”

“I’ll refinance and manage.”

Society normalizes the disease. Banks market it as empowerment. Governments encourage it as “growth.” But in reality, it is a massive colony of patients living on borrowed breath.

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𝟔. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐩𝐬𝐞: 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐥𝐞

The worst part of this disease is its 𝐝𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. Unlike flu, it doesn’t go in a week. It stays for decades, often a lifetime.

People retire still paying their home loans.

Parents die before their education loans are cleared.

Families inherit debt like a genetic curse.

Dreams of freedom are postponed endlessly: “Once I finish my loan, I’ll live my life.”

But life ends before the loan does.

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𝟕. 𝐋𝐨𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐬 𝐒𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐄𝐩𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐜

Loans are not just individual diseases; they are epidemics infecting entire societies:

Countries thrive on debt, selling generations to international banks.

Middle class families measure status by the size of their loans, not savings.

Youngsters are born into houses already mortgaged.

Marriages collapse under the strain of EMIs.

It is a disease passed down like polluted air—normalised, invisible, deadly.

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𝟖. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐮𝐫𝐞: 𝐋𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐃𝐞𝐛𝐭-𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐞

Like every disease, loan too has a cure—but it requires discipline, awareness, and courage.

𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: Refuse to be infected. Live within your means. Stop comparison. Stop buying status.

𝐃𝐞𝐭𝐨𝐱: Sell what is unnecessary, simplify life, pay off aggressively.

𝐈𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲: Build savings, grow food, create self-reliance, rely on community support, not banks.

𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞: Like diet and exercise prevent diabetes, simplicity and contentment prevent debt.

True wealth is not in what you buy with a loan, but in the freedom to sleep peacefully without owing a single rupee.

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𝐄𝐩𝐢𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐮𝐞:

Loan is not money—it is a disease of the soul. It begins with a thought, spreads through desire, infects with false promises, and keeps its patient in lifelong slavery. To be debt-free is not just financial freedom—it is spiritual liberation.

𝐑𝐞𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞. 𝐑𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐚𝐧. 𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞.

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𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐚𝐧

-- a dialogue with Madhukar

Early morning. An old car stops near Madhukar’s off-grid homestead. A family of three generations walks in. The air is cool. Birds are still calling. The smell of wood-fire tea lingers. They sit under a neem tree. Conversation begins slowly, as the sun begins to rise.

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𝟏. 𝐀𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐥

Grandfather: Madhukar, we came to see you. I have heard you live without loans, without depending on banks.

Madhukar: Welcome. Sit. Drink some tea. Tell me, what brings you here?

Father: My father never took loans. He always said loan is a sin. I didn’t believe him. I thought everyone takes a loan, so I also did. For house, for land, for weddings. Now my whole life is running around EMIs.

Son: I have watched this. Grandfather’s peace, father’s struggle. I have decided: no loan for me. That is why we came. We want to hear from you. Why is loan such a poison?

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𝟐. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐎𝐥𝐝 𝐖𝐢𝐬𝐝𝐨𝐦

Madhukar: (turns to the grandfather) You never borrowed?

Grandfather: No. In our days, loan meant shame. If a man took loan, he could not sleep. Villagers would say—“He sold his tomorrow.” So we lived within our means.

Madhukar: And was life hard?

Grandfather: Hard work, yes. But the heart was light. We slept under the stars without fear of collectors.

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𝟑. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞

Madhukar: (to the father) You said you thought loan is normal?

Father: Everywhere. People said: “How else will you build a house? How else will you send children to school? How else will you grow big?” Banks encouraged us. Relatives praised us. Society said—“Loan is progress.” I believed them.

Madhukar: And what happened?

Father: Thirty years of running. Working not for myself, but for bank. Quarrels at home. Pressure in chest. Hair white before time. I built the house, but lost my peace.

Madhukar: This is why I call loan a disease. Like sugar in blood, it spreads quietly. Sweet at first, bitter for life.

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𝟒. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧’𝐬 𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

Son: Then why do banks and governments push it so much?

Madhukar: Because loan is a business. A scam made respectable. They sell you dreams you don’t need, then chain you with repayment. They say “loan is support.” In truth, it is a trap. A man with loan cannot resist, cannot rebel. He becomes a worker not for his family, but for bank’s profit.

Son: So it is slavery?

Madhukar: Voluntary slavery. You enter the cage by signing your name.

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𝟓. 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐋𝐨𝐚𝐧 𝐖𝐚𝐬 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐒𝐢𝐧

Son: Grandfather said loan was a sin. Why?

Madhukar: Because it binds two souls unnaturally. The lender profits without work. The borrower suffers without freedom. Both are corrupted. Old wisdom knew: such relation spoils society. A man in loan loses honesty, loses courage, sometimes even loses compassion.

Grandfather: That is why we feared it. Not because of punishment in heaven, but because it destroys here on earth.

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𝟔. 𝐃𝐨 𝐖𝐞 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐍𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐋𝐨𝐚𝐧?

Father: But Madhukar, sometimes we feel loan is needed. How else can we get things?

Madhukar: That is the lie. Life’s true needs are small—food, shelter, clothes, health. For those, we have hands, community, and earth. Loan enters when greed enters. Bigger house, bigger marriage, bigger show. Or when we do not trust time. If you are patient, save, and work steadily, everything comes.

Son: So we never really need loan?

Madhukar: Never. What you need is patience, simplicity, and trust in your own effort.

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𝟕. 𝐄𝐦𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐦

Son: How do we live without loan in today’s world?

Madhukar: Begin where you are. Look at every desire. Ask—“Do I need this, or do I only want it to show others?” If you cut the show, 80% of expenses vanish.

Live in a house that fits your family, not your pride.

Grow what food you can, buy the rest simply.

Celebrate marriages with blessing, not with borrowed money.

Teach children contentment more than ambition.

Minimalism is not about suffering. It is about freeing space for real joy.

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𝟖. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐑𝐞𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭

Grandfather: I feel peace hearing this. It reminds me of our younger days.

Father: (quietly) I feel regret. But also relief. If my son walks this path, maybe my struggle is not wasted.

Son: (firmly) I will not enter the cage. I will live within my means, wherever I am.

Madhukar: Good. Remember: freedom is not bought by loan. It is kept by refusing it.

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𝟗. 𝐂𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠

The family rises. The sun has now touched the neem leaves. A rooster crows from the next field.

Madhukar: (smiling) Loan is the only disease you cure by not catching it. Stay simple. Stay free.

The three generations walk back slowly to their car, each carrying a different weight—memory, regret, and resolve.

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𝐋𝐨𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐒𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞

the old man

with cracked feet

and eyes soft as dry wells

used to say:

live small, live free,

don’t let another man

hold the rope around your neck.

he had no college,

no papers to frame,

but he slept straight-backed,

like a king

under a tin roof

without a single bill chasing him.

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the middle one,

my father’s time,

believed the banks,

believed the neighbors,

believed the lie that

happiness comes with a signature.

he built walls too wide,

celebrations too loud,

borrowed tomorrow

and paid with his nerves today.

i saw him counting notes

like a man counting his own days.

he carried a house on his back,

a car in his lungs,

an education loan in his veins—

and none of it gave him breath.

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and me—

i stand between

the silence of my grandfather

and the sighs of my father.

i have learned:

a loan is not money,

it is a shadow

that eats your morning light.

they sell it as hope

but it is a leash.

they name it progress

but it is prison.

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the cure?

it is not complex medicine,

not some holy secret.

the cure is this:

take only what you can carry.

live with less,

love with more.

grow food,

fix things,

wait longer,

sleep deeper.

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one day

i will tell my children

what the old man told me

without words:

that freedom

is not in having much

but in owing nothing.

and when they ask

about loan,

i will tell them:

𝐥𝐨𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞,

𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞.

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