My first salary
November 15, 2011 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 One of my uncles said that he brought a Record Player, this choice has been replaced by Tape Recorders in the 80s, Music Systems in the 90s and iPods in the last couple of years.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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nice one 🙂
Since the tym I grew up, had an ardent wish to go to Habib’s Saloon to give my hair a proper new look. Being very nice son of my dearest parents i had thought of fulfilling dis hidden desire of mine on my very first salary.
During my college days in d corridors of North Campus, University of Delhi, i had heard a lot about this magical man who uses his scissor as his magical wand and gives u the look of however weird u could wish for.
I was blessed thick black curly hair which never used to listen to my orders and they were like hungry all the time of extra droplets of oil. Seeing my peer groups I too had my fantasy to give my hair a flip ups whenever i gave a jerk to my brainy head. I tried too many a times bt only to give a sprain to my neck.
So i was eagerly waiting for my job. Though during my college i used to give tuition too sometimes. When i gave my maa Rs 200, my first ever hard earned money as my student was so dumb and her parents were like that if she fails this time she wd sit at home and do all the house hold chores but she wanted to continue with the school for her different desires ofcourse not text books 😀
So i took the responsibility to sail her through in the exams anyhow. Her parents were happy that i finally said YES for this difficult nut 2 crack bt in a way they were equally unaware of the fact that i m helping their daughter for the extra wings she wanted to fly in the aroma of the skirt and loosely knotted tie of hers sitting at the cafeteria and puffing up those shots bunking her classes 😀
Anyways the girl continued her naive flight in d sky as she passed
and my maa was very emotional wn i handed her dis hard earned money of mine. she said this is not a salary son, this is just a token of gratitude what d daughter’s parents showered on u. i understood. My maa is still keeping those Rs 200 with her and she never spends it what may come the urgency 🙂
hmm so finally the day came when i received my salary as a Gentleman Cadet in IMA, Dehradoon.
I was very happy as i was just few steps away from fulfilling my ardent hidden desire but only to realize that i don’t have hair anymore. Being in Military Academy , a soldier is not allowed to keep hair long enough to be combed them properly 🙁
Thanks Capt. Jha for sharing your feelings. I really did not get the line about the girl in your comment.