Bengaluru startup founder sells Mumbai's ₹1.8 crore property to buy a bike, explains why it's not a 'stupid' decision

A Bengaluru-based startup founder has sparked a conversation online after revealing that he sold his Mumbai home and used the money to buy a Ducati XDiavel. But according to Subhash Choudhary, co-founder and CTO of e-commerce platform Dukaan, the decision was not really about owning an expensive motorcycle. It was about letting go of an asset he rarely used and spending more time enjoying the present.

Choudhary bought the Mumbai property for ₹1.8 crore in 2018. Two years later, after starting Dukaan, he shifted to Bengaluru while the house remained in Mumbai.

The move left him paying more than ₹1 lakh every month in home loan EMIs, much of which, he said, went towards interest.

‘The house stayed in Mumbai. I didn't’

Explaining his decision in a post on X, Choudhary said he had continued holding on to the property because he kept thinking it would eventually become a worthwhile investment.

But there was a problem. He was no longer living there. “The house stayed in Mumbai. I didn't. But the EMI followed me everywhere,” he said.


For years, he convinced himself that the property would appreciate and that keeping it would make financial sense in the long run. Eventually, however, he began questioning whether paying for a home he barely used was really helping him.

He described it as an asset sitting nearly 1,000 km away while he continued putting his present life on hold for a future that might never arrive in the way he imagined.

Startup pressure changed his perspective

Building a startup also played a role in his thinking. Choudhary said the long hours, pressure and uncertainty that came with running a company had taken a toll on his peace of mind. A 20-year mortgage, he realised, was not going to solve that problem.

So he made an unusual choice. He sold the house and bought a Ducati XDiavel instead. The motorcycle comes with a 1,262cc V-twin engine and produces 156 horsepower. Choudhary said riding it gave him something that the property could not — an immediate sense of enjoyment and freedom.

One of his memorable rides took place late at night on Bengaluru's Outer Ring Road. For him, the experience was about much more than the machine itself. The sound of the engine starting, the throttle and the feeling of riding helped him switch off from the pressures surrounding his work.

Two strangers made the purchase feel even more worthwhile

Choudhary also recalled two encounters that stayed with him after buying the Ducati. During one ride, an elderly man approached him at a traffic signal and asked if he could hear the bike's throttle. Choudhary agreed.

On another occasion, he met a motorcycle enthusiast in his 30s who asked if he could ride the XDiavel. Choudhary allowed him to take it for a ride and said the man's reaction was unforgettable.

Those moments reinforced his belief that the purchase was about creating experiences rather than simply acquiring an expensive possession.

The encounter with the older man particularly made him think about time and age. Choudhary questioned whether having enough money to buy such things decades later would mean much if he was no longer in a position to enjoy them.

‘Maybe it's time I start living in it’

Choudhary's post has since attracted considerable attention on social media, with some users relating to his argument about delaying enjoyment in the hope of a better future. Some praised him for choosing an experience over an unused property, while others shared stories about finally buying their dream motorcycles or spending money on things that brought them happiness.

Choudhary's larger message was not simply to sell a house and buy a bike. His argument was that constantly postponing everything enjoyable for an uncertain future can also come at a cost.

“I spent years building a future. Maybe it's time I start living in it,” he wrote.

He urged people to make room for the things that genuinely matter to them, whether that means taking a long-awaited trip, buying a dream gadget, setting up a home project or simply doing something they have repeatedly put off.

For Choudhary, that decision happened to come in the form of a Ducati XDiavel.