From ration rice and torn shoes to top performer in the oil and gas industry

Last Updated on September 23, 2021 at 8:32 am

We have an incredible rag to riches story in this episode of “how I increased my income”.  If ever we needed proof that it is possible to change our social station by grit, sacrifice and perseverance, this is it.

About this series: We all appreciate the importance of a higher income but increasing our income is not easy. It requires time, effort, sacrifice, dedication and opportunities. In these articles, we showcase inspirational stories about people who have increased their income, their station in life via self-improvement, upskilling or side-hustles.

This idea started when I had asked members of Facebook, Asan Ideas for Wealth, to share real-life stories of how they or someone they knew increased their income by upskilling, self-growth (personal development), or side-hustles.

Many of the accounts were quite extraordinary. These are the stories published earlier:

• How my mother moved up the corporate ladder with constant self-growth.
• How I started a side hustle at 16 by blogging and web development
• How I learned new skills with side hustles and advanced my career
• Side-hustle journey: How I started a children’s book club following my passion

We have similar stories lined in the coming weeks. If you have increased your income and changed your station in life, please share it with our community. It will inspire and motivate many. Contact us at freefincal {AT} Gmail {DOT} com with a short outline to take it forward. It can be published anonymously if you prefer.

The following is essentially a comment shared on the thread mentioned above. Although telegraphic in style, it is pretty straightforward. Therefore we have not edited/expounded it further.

This is my wife’s story:

• She lived on ration rice, one pair of jeans and three tops and a torn shoe.
• 1996 – finished college. 1st job was for a day, selling encyclopaedia/dictionary in Chennai’s Parry’s corner.
• 2nd job – joined a Medical college as an office assistant – her job was to source and get dead bodies from govt hospitals to use in the college class. Paid her Rs. 1500 a month for three months.
• 1997 – joined a pizza co as a project assistant. She grew in the role.
• 1999 – joined a famous textile showroom as a manager. The company went bust in 2000.
• 2000 – joined a textile manufacturing co as MD’s PA grew to become a garment merchandiser.
• 2001 – got married and quit the job.
• 2003 – after our child was born joined a BPO as a training assistant for 18000.
• 2005 joined a bigger BPO, Chennai. 28k/month
• 2007, when our child was four took the call to shift to Pune alone (family stayed in Chennai. My mum took care of daughter)(air Deccan was a blessing with low fares). The salary jump was excellent. She got promoted to Manager of the training dept in six months.
• 2009 – joined a global Oil & Gas co in Chennai. At home with a better salary.
• 2012- seeing her potential – transferred abroad. 2 promotions in 4 years.
• 2017 – She was transferred to another country and promoted again. (Salary is 150x of what she started in 2009). Now, senior-most Indian in the location.
• Top performer bracket every year since 2010