Salary has always topped the list of “never tell anyone” list. And that is a universal statement. But 2020 has brought in something new again. Not just people from all walks of life, celebrities and public personalities have become a part of this #firstsalary and are openly talking about how much was their first paycheque.
It all started when a Twitter user from Bangalore asked people to share their first salaries, at what age did they receive it and what job did they do back then. It was all of a ‘research purpose’. A lot of people joined in, sharing their stories but the trend became news when various famous personalities joined in. From director Hansal Mehta to actor Ali Fazal to politician Srivatsa to IAS officer Awanish Sharan have all opened up about it.
National Film Award-winning director Hansal Mehta (for the movie Shahid in 2013) shared his story,
“Firstsalary- Rs.450pm
Age-16
A salesperson at Intershoppe Kemp’s Corner selling Fu’s jeans and casual wear to earn money for my junior college wardrobe.”
First salary- Rs.450pm
Age-16
Salesperson at Intershoppe Kemp's Corner selling Fu's jeans and casual wear to earn money for my junior college wardrobe. https://t.co/TYiJi9dQPR— Hansal Mehta (@mehtahansal) November 18, 2020
Anubhav Sinha, the film director and producer known for movies like Tum Bin (2001), Mulk (2018), Article 15 (2019) and Thappad (2020) shared his first salary too,
“FirstSalary- Rs 80
Age-18
Arithmetic tuition to a class 7 student to earn for my smoking in the Engg college.”
First Salary- Rs 80
Age-18
Arithmetic tuition to a class 7 student to earn for my smoking in the Engg college. https://t.co/SmxrV3E2Xf— Anubhav Sinha (@anubhavsinha) November 18, 2020
Mirzapur fame Ali Fazal, better known as Guddu Bhaiya who will be next seen in “Death on the Nile” directed by Kenneth Branagh also starring Gal Gadot (Wonder Woman) became a part of this trend. Ali shared his story,
“First salary – 8000/-
Age – 19
Call centre during college to fund college fee.”
First salary – 8000/-
Age – 19
Call centre during college to fund college fee. https://t.co/z2julqM576— Ali Fazal M / میر علی فضل / अली (@alifazal9) November 18, 2020
Actor Sharad Kelkar who was critically acclaimed for his performance as a transgender character in the Akshay Kumar starred movie, ‘Laxmii’ (2020) shared his story. Sharad tweeted,
“First salary – Rs. 2500
“Age – 18”
Gym instructor”
First salary – Rs. 2500
"Age – 18"
Gym instructor— Sharad Kelkar (@SharadK7) November 18, 2020
Known for Fukrey (2013), Sanam Re (2016), Junooniyat (2016) and Pagalpanti (2019) actor Pulkit Samrat shared,
“First Salary- ₹ 1500
Age- 16
Selling petro cards at gas stations.”
First Salary- ₹ 1500
Age- 16
Selling petro cards at gas stations. https://t.co/ncJS45x0Of— Pulkit Samrat (@PulkitSamrat) November 18, 2020
The Amazon Prime Original TV series, ‘Four More Shots Please’ fame Sayani Gupta (playing Damini Rizvi Roy in the series) shared her story,
“First Salary- Rs 12,500/-
Age 21
Marketing and Sales Executive in a Publishing House/Infrastructure Research Firm.”
First Salary- Rs 12,500/-
Age 21
Marketing and Sales Executive in a Publishing House/Infrastructure Research Firm. https://t.co/cwr1BDs5bi— Sayani Gupta (@sayanigupta) November 18, 2020
National Award winning filmmaker Apurva Asrani ( National Award for Snip!) known for Shahid (2012), Aligarh (2015) and Simran (2017) shared,
“First Salary- Rs 1000
Age: 15
Sales boy for a ‘Weekender’ clothing store on Warden Rd, so that I could vacation in Bangalore without borrowing money from my father.”
https://twitter.com/Apurvasrani/status/1328914438020354054?s=20
Filmmaker Umesh Shukla also a National Film Award for Best Screenplay awardee, known for films like Oh My God (2012) and 102 Not Out (2018) shared,
“First salary – Rs.35 per show.
Was doing Back Stage under the director Mahendra Joshi. 400 Rs as a sales man for Leo toys n NikiTasha kitchenette”
First Salary : 10,000/-
Age : 17
Musical skit for a car launch at the Auto Expo Delhi used to open my first bank account. https://t.co/k3Kerh34KF— Nimrat Kaur (@NimratOfficial) November 18, 2020
The Lunchbox (2013) actor Nimrat Kaur who was also seen in Airlift (2016) and the American Television series ‘Homeland’ (season 4) shared her story,
“FirstSalary : 10,000/-
Age : 17
Musical skit for a car launch at the Auto Expo Delhi used to open my first bank account.”
First Salary : 10,000/-
Age : 17
Musical skit for a car launch at the Auto Expo Delhi used to open my first bank account. https://t.co/k3Kerh34KF— Nimrat Kaur (@NimratOfficial) November 18, 2020
RJ Raunac known as ‘Bauaa’ shared, “First Salary 3000 … Age 17”
First Salary 3000 … Age 17 https://t.co/WRRmUQIXb4
— RJ Raunac (@rjraunac) November 17, 2020
Journalist Sonal Kalra who is presently with the Hindustan Times, India’s second largest national English daily, shared,
“Firstsalary 5500. Age 21
PS: spent all of it plus pocket money savings on gifts for family
PPS : everyone exchanged their gifts”
First salary 5500. Age 21
PS: spent all of it plus pocket money savings on gifts for family
PPS : everyone exchanged their gifts https://t.co/bxETjGsIIj— Sonal Kalra
(@sonalkalra) November 17, 2020
Congressman Srivatsa, the National Campaign incharge, Indian Youth Congress shared his story of first salary before joining politics,
“FirstSalary: ₹14,000
Age: 21
Source: Wipro Technologies
I remember being excited about withdrawing 4k at an ATM 
Was salaried for the next ten years and then Politics happened!”
First Salary: ₹14,000
Age: 21
Source: Wipro TechnologiesI remember being excited about withdrawing 4k at an ATM
— Srivatsa (@srivatsayb) November 18, 2020
BJP leader Suresh Nakhua and Official Spokesperson for BJP Mumbai shared,
“Firstsalary: ₹1500
Age: 21
Gharda Chemicals”
First salary: ₹1500
Age: 21
Gharda Chemicals https://t.co/VgS1XvM5Yz— Suresh Nakhua (Modi Ka Parivar)
IAS officer Awanish Sharan also became a part of the trend sharing,
“FirstSalary: 18,000
Age: 27”
First Salary: 18,000
Age: 27 https://t.co/JsY6cIL3e9— Awanish Sharan
Twitter also saw a series of memes that joked about the same.
#FirstSalary trending on tweeter… They are telling their first salary and age at that time on Twitter right now**
Dear people
pic.twitter.com/23DgwHk59Q
— Bhagirath Vala (@bhagivala13) November 18, 2020
https://twitter.com/BhataktiAatmaa_/status/1328948338683736064?s=20
Everyone is tweeting about #FirstSalary
Unemployeds including me; pic.twitter.com/C8xS5oEL4k— Rishabh yadav (@Rishabh43959521) November 18, 2020
*People posting their first salary details*
Me (who haven't done anything yet) pic.twitter.com/SQJBr3XSM5
— Vivek Parte
First salary: Rs 30-50
Age. : 11yrs
From. : Ghr ke Purane Newspaper pic.twitter.com/7ElQ3VxGmK— Shækh Sajid Saghir (@shaekhsajid) November 18, 2020
Some even mentioned Bollywood superstars like Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan, speculating their first salaries.
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