I was nineteen, tired eyes, local train rides,
Half-grown man with full-grown responsibilities inside.
No roadmap, no mentor, no safety net line,
Just survival mode running in the back of my mind.
While others planned colleges, dreams, and escape,
I was learning how pressure slowly changes your shape.
Salary small, but the burden was real,
Paying with energy nobody could feel.
Never asked my brother,
“Why aren’t you earning more?”
Never asked my sister,
“Why your life moving slow?”
Back then I understood—
Everybody fights unseen wars,
Some carry EMI pressure,
Some carry emotional scars.
Now the years moved fast like Pune traffic rain,
Everybody upgraded through struggle and pain.
Sister got married, baby crying at night,
Brother handling marriage, career, future fights.
Dog at home, bills stacked high,
Targets getting bigger every time.
And now they look at me like,
“Bro, you need to rise.”
“15 to 20 LPA minimum, that’s the prize.”
Every call feels like performance review,
As if life became KPI and appraisal too.
But maybe they’re not fully wrong either,
Maybe pressure changed shape with age and weather.
Because survival at 33 hits different now,
Family looks at stability, not potential somehow.
Parents getting older, grandmother slowing down,
Medical bills waiting quietly in the background.
Inflation doesn’t care about emotion or pride,
The world respects output, not what’s inside.
Still…
Sometimes I sit alone and think deep,
Why does advice sound heavier from people who sleep
Beside partners, with emotional support near,
While I carry silent uncertainty year after year?
I was there when life was rough and lean,
Working teenage shifts behind the scene.
Nobody said, “Take rest, recover your mind,”
Because survival leaves softness behind.
Now they talk package, network, growth,
LinkedIn upgrades and corporate oath.
“Upskill faster.” “Move smarter.” “Don’t stay stuck.”
As if every human runs on equal luck.
But anger alone won’t change my lane,
Reality doesn’t respond to emotional pain.
The market rewards leverage, skill, and visibility,
Not sacrifice stories or past loyalty.
So maybe this pressure is painful—but true,
Maybe life is forcing another version of you.
Not the exhausted boy trying only to survive,
But a man trying to strategically rise.
15 LPA… 20 LPA…
The numbers echo inside my brain.
Not just money—
It’s freedom from panic, dependency, and strain.
A bigger package means:
Parents safer.
Health managed better.
Debt lighter.
Future stronger.
Respect louder.
So I won’t take their pressure like insult anymore,
I’ll convert it into fuel at the core.
Not to impress relatives or society’s noise,
But to increase options, stability, and choice.
I know my journey started uneven and late,
But late growth still changes fate.
One certification.
One interview.
One strategic move at a time.
Compounding effort rewrites the timeline.
Because pressure can either break a life… or force it into structure and direction.
