this post comes a couple of days late, but then its never too late to reflect on certain things, isn't it...
may 1st is celebrated as May-day - worker's day or labourer's day, in many countries around the world (except, as one would expect, in the US - which has its own labor day in the end of summer)... and it is a public holiday in india.
being a public holiday, the vernacular indian channels had lined up an array of 'special' programs... the trailer of one of those programs showed celebrities talking about the first salaries they had received in life... and that got me thinking of my own...
the first 'official' payment i got wasnt exactly a salary, but a stipend for the training i had to do for my course. that was 11 years ago. and an insignificant sum of Rs450 a month. (thats about $10, and it seems so weird now that such a sum was a month's payment - whatever be the service !)
thinking back now, its amazing how having money of one's own could give a feeling of confidence and happiness, regardless of how small the amount was.
i guess i was quite frugal, even back then. besides petrol for my beloved scooty and the occasional cost of books and the frequent cost of exam fees, the money was spent on little else. i am happy and thankful that my friends too are the simple and no-frills kind (birds of a feather ?) - for having a good time those days, we didn't need overpriced drinks from fancy malls, or frequent movies in expensive multiplexes... in fact i would have barely seen one or two movies a year those days... those were days when i had no computer, no branded clothes, and no mobile phone (my first mobile phone came some years later, in 2005 - after i earned my first real salary )... and yet felt a lot of freedom and happiness...
well thats the story of the paltry 450.. and how it went a long way in life... a little flashback from not so long ago, yet what seems like long ago... hmmmm...
since the post is in the spirit of May-day , i've attached the above image, which is the Triumph of Labour statue at the marina beach, chennai. it was sculpted by Debi prasad roy chowdry, who was the principal of the college of fine arts in chennai.
(image source- wikipedia )
being a public holiday, the vernacular indian channels had lined up an array of 'special' programs... the trailer of one of those programs showed celebrities talking about the first salaries they had received in life... and that got me thinking of my own...
the first 'official' payment i got wasnt exactly a salary, but a stipend for the training i had to do for my course. that was 11 years ago. and an insignificant sum of Rs450 a month. (thats about $10, and it seems so weird now that such a sum was a month's payment - whatever be the service !)
thinking back now, its amazing how having money of one's own could give a feeling of confidence and happiness, regardless of how small the amount was.
i guess i was quite frugal, even back then. besides petrol for my beloved scooty and the occasional cost of books and the frequent cost of exam fees, the money was spent on little else. i am happy and thankful that my friends too are the simple and no-frills kind (birds of a feather ?) - for having a good time those days, we didn't need overpriced drinks from fancy malls, or frequent movies in expensive multiplexes... in fact i would have barely seen one or two movies a year those days... those were days when i had no computer, no branded clothes, and no mobile phone (my first mobile phone came some years later, in 2005 - after i earned my first real salary )... and yet felt a lot of freedom and happiness...
well thats the story of the paltry 450.. and how it went a long way in life... a little flashback from not so long ago, yet what seems like long ago... hmmmm...
since the post is in the spirit of May-day , i've attached the above image, which is the Triumph of Labour statue at the marina beach, chennai. it was sculpted by Debi prasad roy chowdry, who was the principal of the college of fine arts in chennai.
(image source- wikipedia )
No comments:
Post a Comment