A Family Sets a Record of Indebtedness

It's true that all members of any good family are always in debt with each other for the mutual trust and love they share, and help and advice they continuously extend to each other.

But the family of Mr. H D Kumaraswamy, former Chief Minister of Karnataka and son of H D Deve Gowda, our former Prime Minister, has set a record in the level of this mutual indebtedness within family members. In the affidavit filed by him while submitting his nomination for the election from the Ramnagara constituency on Monday, Mr. Kumaraswamy, popularly known as "KumarAnna" (Kumar, the name and anna in Kannada means elder brother) among his friends and followers, stated that he owes Rs 1.33 crore to none other than his wife Anitha!

But lo and behold! The debt does not stop here. He also owes Rs 2.59 lakh to Kasturi media, a business run by his wife.

...And again it does not stop here. He also owes Rs 3.26 lakh to his sister-in-law Bhavani (H D Revanna's wife) and Rs. 1 crore to his own brother H D Ramesh. His son Nikhil Gowda, following footsteps of his father, too has a loan of Rs 1 crore ... borrowed from who else but his own mother.

...And, it does not stop within the family and, in fact, it extends to other financial institutions as well. Mr. Kumaraswamy has borrowed Rs 10 lakh from a bank. His wife Anitha has taken a loan of Rs 14.13 crore from various cooperative societies. She has also borrowed Rs 6.53 crore as a personal loan. His son Nikhil Gowda too carries a loan of Rs 80 lakh from a couple of cooperative societies and Rs 65 lakh from an individual named Yathish.

But who says that the honorable former Chief Minister of a software-rich state like Karnataka is immersing himself and his family deep in debt? Here comes his list of assets as declared in the affidavit.

All in all, the family has assets worth Rs 49.72 crore and liabilities of Rs 26.05 crore. Mr. Kumaraswamy says that he has property worth Rs 15.36 crore, while his wife and son have property worth Rs 31.86 crore and Rs 2.67 crore respectively. The affidavit also states that Mr. Kumaraswamy has 50 acres of agricultural land in Kethaganahalli, a 10,000 square foot house in J P Nagar, Bengaluru, and an industrial site. He also has 750 grams of gold and 12.5 kgs of silver. His son has 850 grams of gold and 16 kgs of silver, while his wife has 1.3 kgs of gold. The affidavit finally states that his bank deposits run to the tune of Rs 13.77 lakh, while his wife and son have Rs 3.18 lakh and Rs 1.53 lakh respectively.

We do not know why Thomas Fuller(1654–1734), an English physician and writer stated way back in 1732 in his book 'Gnomologia' that 'Debt is the worst poverty', but we can fully understand why the popular American columnist, Earl Wilson (1907-1987) once wrote, "Today, there are three kinds of people: the have's, the have-not's, and the have-not-paid-for-what-they-have's" ... and we want to add another fourth kind "the have-not-paid-for-what-they-can-easily-pay"!