there are worse things in life than death.

have you ever spent an afternoon with an insurance salesman?

i have.

in india, LIC is one of the biggest, oldest and trustworthy life insurance firms.

they have local agents all over the country. this has been a steady flow of a kind of ‘pocket-money’ income for many housewives, over the years as they themselves say.

one of them happened to be a long distant aunt. actually if you are interested, she was from my mom’s sister’s husband’s family in brief….

she was a very nice aunt, and we met at family weddings. once wen i was picking up a juicy gulabjamun in a extravagant marathi buffet lunch a loving familiar hand tapped on my back… “aga dhanu, tujhyashi kahi bolaaycha hota” (want to talk to you)

we pulled up two chairs and started eating together…

aunt : look dear, you have started earning now, your maushi was telling me. i just wanted to give you an idea about a few things.

people die. it is a fact. and people can die because of many reasons.

i almost choked! w-w-w-hhhat ?

aunt : yeah precisely that’s wat i am talking about…

me : no way i am dying any soon, why are we even talking about this ?????

aunt : how can u say that, there are many options – natural reasons, maybe some calamity, accident, health reasons et al….

me : but is it necessary to think about ‘options’ ?

aunt : yes, absolutely, it keeps you prepared…

me: but i amnt ‘waiting’ to die, there are other better things in life…

aunt : you are right. there are many other things. you can be robbed off your jewelry, or maybe your bank account  gets hacked, your company runs into bankruptcy, and yes, there can be a fire in your apartment in which everything you own is burnt…. you know…. ?

so, my point is, you can never predict… now you might just leave this function after some time and while crossing the road say…swoosh some car has done it again !!

look, i care for you really, i just want you to be insured… y don’t you drop by one evening, shall explain some good policies to you… we need to hurry up in this dangerous world…

this was just an excerpt from a much longer and a more scary conversation, three years ago.

was trying to surf the internet as its tax planning time for me, n I suddenly remembered why I have been running away from insurance policies n agents.

there are many stories about people who have become victims of an overtalkative and extra convincing (forcing) dominating agents, however that’s normal levels of funny marketing tactics.

in a play called ‘sahi re sahi’ actor bharat jadhav, has enacted six different people throughout, and one of the roles is an insurance sales guy. apt to the context, he keeps talking n talking n talking till they push him out of the scene..

all said n done, insurance is safe. everyone should have it. but minds are delicate, tampering with a positive thought process is a serious offense. will people realize ?