I still remember the day my first salary was credited into my bank account. I remember the joy with which I went to withdraw the money. I had just passed out of University and this was my first job.
That one credit to my account, opened a magical door of dreams, where I spent hours dreaming about the things I would buy with my money.
I remember saving up for a scooter, a hair-dryer and a Kodak camera that used film rolls (no digital ones were available then).
I saved up for months, and bought my first scooter, a shiny red Sunny Bajaj (as the brand was called). The scooter gave me mobility and freedom. It gave me wonderful hours zooming around the city. It meant movies with friends on Saturday afternoons, it took me everywhere, to client meetings, to pick up my mom from the railway station, to take my niece for an ice-cream treat.
It had a nice carrier below the seat, where I could store a lot of stuff, from the books that I borrowed from a library that was close to my place of work, to my lunch-box, to my water bottle and other papers that I had to work on.
It gave me good mileage and never, ever broke down. Weekend mornings, saw me with a pail, brush, soap and cloth, washing my Sunny till it shone and gleamed. It was my pride and joy.
I felt so proud, when I saw it standing bright and clean in the parking lot, and often mentally compared it to the other bikes there.
It was one of the first things that I bought in the early days of my career, and one of the things that I loved the most in my life.
Years have flown by, many jobs, role changes, and graduating from a scooter to cars, but those first moments of joy and exhilaration that I felt on my Sunny can never be equalled, that feeling of independence, that feeling of having reached a point in life after years of hard work; and that bubbling happiness, when I rode my Sunny and the wind whipped across my face and made me smile.
I did not ever want to sell it, but life had to go on. After many, many years, I passed it on to my sister, extracting all kinds of promises from her on caring for my dear Sunny. True to form, my Sunny served her for many years too. My daughter, who was two then, also got to go on a ride with her aunt on my Sunny. Many memories, lots of love there!
So tell me, what things did you buy with your first salary? Would love to know.
Simple Moments of Life 