Nobody tells you that fatherhood can begin years before the baby does. This is the story of how mine began. Some of it is funny, some of it is not, and I have tried to tell all of it honestly. The waiting I married around the third decade of my life, which already felt late. Four years on, there was still no child, and one thought followed me everywhere: I am not getting any younger. It was a strange kind of arithmetic. Every one of my birthdays added a year to one column, and every month left the other column empty. I did not say it aloud very often, but it was there at the back of every ordinary day. And relatives, as relatives do, asked: "So, when are you two becoming three, or more?" Most of it was meant kindly. Some of it was even asked with glee, some by those relatives who were childless themselves, which I always found interesting. It was also a question we were asking ourselves, far more often and far more quietly. My wife went through far more of it than I d...
Every banker has met a Tashi. Tashi is a good man. He is a friend, a cousin, or the neighbour's son who once helped you carry a sofa up three flights of stairs. One day he arrives with tea, a warm smile, and a small request: "It is only a formality. Just sign here as guarantor. The bank needs one more name." You sign, because it would be rude not to. Besides, it is only a formality, isn't it? It is not. What you are actually signing When you stand guarantor, you are not vouching for Tashi's character. You are promising the bank, in writing, that if Tashi stops paying, you will. This is not a ceremonial role, like cutting a ribbon at an inauguration. A guarantee is a legal commitment, and the bank can turn to you for the outstanding amount if the borrower cannot or will not pay. People usually think a guarantee is worth one instalment. It is not. It is worth the whole outstanding loan , plus interest and charges. Tashi's "small" loan, over its...