Bengaluru woman repays 43,000,000 CZK education loan after 8 years, takes 3-year-old son as witness to “milestone” | Today’s news
A Bengaluru-based consultant took her three-year-old son with her to the bank to repay her education loan of Rs. ₹43,000,000, which has been pending for more than eight years. Rao said she wanted to share the “milestone” with him so that he understood the value of financial independence and wanted to stand on his own two feet.
In a detailed post on LinkedIn, Arpitha Rao opened up about the hardships she faced since her college days and how the lack of financial support from her father made her struggles tougher.
“He had a very different starting point”
“I took my 3.5-year-old son with me to close the loan. I wanted him to be there. Some of my ISB MBA classmates took 2-4 years to pay off their education loans.”
They had family support, financial cushions and the privilege of not being the sole breadwinner. I had a very different starting point,” Rao wrote on LinkedIn.
Rao shared that her father stopped supporting her financially when she was 18 and that she became financially independent at 22. The turning point in her life came after she got married and was expecting a child. After the pay cut, she was left with zero income.
Rao alleged that the startup she worked for did not pay her six months of maternity benefits. “I stopped earning; that was the biggest hit,” Rao said, according to Moneycontrol.
As Rao continued to repay her ₹Loan for education 43 thousand
Despite the challenges, Rao did not let setbacks stop her. She continued to pay off her loan, which had grown ₹26 million ₹43 million.
During her career, she continued to pay off loans and worked with consulting firms such as Sattva, Intellecap and Sagana. Her work has included projects related to education, gender, climate and energy transition.
“I am debt free today,” exclaimed Rao as she entered a whole new chapter of professional and personal independence.
Why did Rao take her son to the bank?
Calling her decision to take her son to the bank with her “intentional,” Rao wrote, “I hope he grows up to understand the value of earning, financial independence and the courage to build his own life.”
However, her son seems to have taken away a different impression from the trip.
“The highlight of the whole trip for him was to touch the actual gun that the bank guard was carrying,” laughed Rao.
People online flooded the comments section, with some calling her journey inspirational, while others shared details of their own debt journeys.
