My first salary

November 15, 2011 Off By Pramathesh Borkotoky
 Wish I didn’t know now what I didn’t know then.  ~Bob Seger, “Against the Wind”
The above line from the popular song by Bob Seger so much epitomize our thoughts.  Even if we do not want to acknowledge this thought, deep in our heart we all wish to live a life that was so simple. When we found happiness in little things like catching a butterfly and setting it free again; got the feeling of winning by making the perfect sand castle. As we grew up, we understood the complexities of life and came to know that money is an important factor to be happy. Nothing wrong with that, but as a child we did not have money. So, in our pursuit of happiness we longed for the day when we would be having a job and do all those things which we want to do. It’s an altogether different thing that with time our priorities change but few things always remain same. In the first few months of our job, we try to get what we wished as a child. We did a small survey among our readers as what they did with their first salary, and found some interesting facts.

Almost all the participants said that they gave a part or the full salary to their parents. In a middle class family, we all must have witnessed the sacrifice our parents made for us, and this was only a small gratitude. “The first thing that came to my mind was that I would be able to buy books.”, said Dhairya Sarmah, an IT executive. The same feeling was reflected by many others and one of our readers said that he bought six books.  Apart from books, chocolates have also been a weakness for many. “I always loved Diary Milk, and I distributed Diary Milk among my colleagues on the day I got my salary. My mother also likes them so I took a few of them for her as well while returning home.”, said Naba.  Another thing, that was most popular was music and gadgets. Music and Gadgets seem to be a choice since the 70s. One of my uncles said that he brought a Record Player, this choice has been replaced by Tape Recorders in the 80s, Music Systems in the 90s and iPods in the last couple of years. Whatever might be the technology, but music is the key. Mobile Phones has also been in the list of few of our participants. “I was tired of using a second hand phone which would show mysterious problems at critical times, so I brought a new phone.” , 28 year old Rahul said. “I brought a set of knives!”, replied a reader who wished anonymity. Don’t be surprised, she meant kitchen knives and yes food has been in the list of most of our readers. Some of our readers went out for dining after they got their first salary. 

Some of our readers felt sorry that they could not do what they wanted. Life caught them unawares before they understood. They brought the necessary things like cooking vessels, bedding, etc. As for me, and some of my friends, we do not remember what we did special. We simply were happy and busy being the naughty boy of the block making everybody wonder the reason for our smiles.  Keep smiling and be proud of the child you are.

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