The Magical Salaries

"The more we carry, while we go up, the more is the chance of we falling down. So burrow up savings as you move up."

I read the report about the salaries of IIM graduates in India with a tinge of astonishment and jealously. The salaries of $150 - 200K are a steal, for B-schools that doesnt even rank in world's top 100. The other day, my mom was saying how my neighbor who recently graduated from IIM-A is getting 3 lakhs (1 lakh = 100,000 & by current exchange rate Rs. 1 lakh = $2200) per month and I can expect no more than that even in US in a prestigious company. I'm stunned by how fast times are changing and the revolutions we face before our own eyes.

I grew up in an environment where Rs. 8000 to Rs. 10000 of disposable income plus housing allowance(a gross income of around Rs. 20000) per month is sufficient to run a family. A lot of times, I felt rich with a amount less than $400. Now, things are changing so fast in a very narrow period of time. Only two years ago, I was longing for few thousand rupees. When I graduated out of college and joined grad school in US, I was pleasantly surprised to see my after-tax stipend net income was more than twice my father's pre-tax gross income and my father had put lots of effort in that 25 year banking career as a manager in a national bank. I had to just do some grading and sometime teaching for few hours a week to attain that income, while my father works for 70 hours of week in managing a giant institution. And now, in a few months, my income might go by a multiple of 5X times and this is great. One of my former roomates has even a spectacular story. From a family with no graduates with an annual income of less than Rs. 15000/year, he managed to multiply the income by dozens of times!!!

This is the magic I'm talking about. For those of us who grew up with less than few hundreds of dollars a month, are now negotiating with salaries a dozen times greater than that. And this is in just a few years. If we care to see it carefully, we can see wonders. If we apply right brains, we can become millionaires in a jiffy. It reminds me of the greatest age of america - see here. If we apply right minds we can permanently change our future. There is virtually a gold rush over here and plenty of positive enthusiasm.

But, we must be more careful in this phases. The more we carry, while we go up, the more is the chance of we falling down. Thus, we should take more care in saving and investing. If we use prudent economical principles, we can do enormous wonders in this magical nation. Our eyes should glow as much as those American greats of the 19t h and early twentieth centuries. We should forever change our conditions. Nothing seems to be impossible. If so much of magic happened within the last decade, we can expect for much more in the next decade. Strap up and get ready for the biggest thrill ride of history.