Normally a salary figure makes for good copy, but a 70 LPA from an IIT grad has riled up a more pointed argument of late. An entrepreneur put it out there: his well-to-do neighbour was asked about his life and just put in, ‘I’m still figuring it out.’ The rest is social media history.
It’s a conundrum any pro in the big Indian cities will know. You have the income and the pedigree, but your circle is a little more sparse. The entrepreneur’s view is that we are in for a new kind of social move where even with the money, you are as likely as not to be living by yourself.
The exchange that set off a wider question
Ankit Kedia put down how he met the guy. He lives on his own, away from his folks. Out the door at 10, back by 6, he makes his own food and some nights he’ll be in there singing. A Computer Science type from IIT Roorkee, and when you get to him, he says, 'I'm still figuring it out.‘
Kedia adds he’s also divorced and brings in some 70 lakh a year. Put all that together – the steady day, the resume, the lack of a plan – and you have something that made waves on 16 June 2026.
Reactions split on what ‘success’ should feel like
Opinions were quick to harden. Some read it as a case of being done in by city life. Others see a perfectly fine, self-reliant existence that doesn’t need anyone to come in and put it to rights.
Here is what you would hear in the thread:
– There is a weariness to it; the educated are pulling back.
– People are making the link to Japan and the ‘lying flat’ phenomenon.
– A few are concerned about de-dollarisation and what it means for IT’s run.
– Then you have those who say if you have the wealth and the freedom, so be it.
– To many, his way of life is serene, not to be pitied.
– Not everyone is on board, with some pointing to the toll on mental health and the loss of community.
The emerging ‘connected vs alone’ divide
A comment that made the rounds put a name to a new form of inequality. It isn’t the haves and have-nots anymore, it’s the ones with a tribe and the ones without. You can have a career that gives you room to breathe, but that doesn’t mean you fit in.
Kedia put it this way: you can have the title, the job, the cash, and still not have ‘your people’. He figures we are going to see more of it in the metros – folks with their finances in order and a solitary path ahead of them.
What the contrasting views reveal
There is a hard-nosed side to it. In a country with its share of poverty, one reader said, you can have the wealth and be on your own, and it is 100% a fair trade. It is a pushback on the old days of 10 to a room that used to be the middle-class norm.
But then you have the ones who will tell you that being on your own is no disease. It is a way to keep your distance from the kind of relationships that are all show and put you to work for nothing. Solitude is better than dealing with phony people, they say.
Anxieties, aspirations, and a changing metro playbook
Some of the replies took a step back to the economics of it. One put in a word of caution: with the world moving on and de-dollarisation in play, the kind of comfort the IT sector has provided might not be here to stay. These top-line salaries aren’t a given for ever.
Still, some are put off by the idea of calling the neighbour lonely. A 10-to-6, a home-cooked dinner, a hobby or two – to them that is a well-ordered life. They wonder if the need to make a diagnosis of it is just us putting on pressure.
Why this moment matters now
What made the post land was the way it scorns the neat story we like to tell about a good degree and a fat cheque. 70 LPA will tell you how much, but it won’t give you the answer to what comes after, or with whom you are doing it.
We are looking at a generation that is redefining the scorecard. And if Kedia is right and we are heading for more single-living, the way we measure up in the metros is going to be in flux for some time.
A small story, a big mirror
In the end, it is one line: ‘I’m still figuring it out.’ From a CSE from IIT Roorkee, 70 LPA in the bank, and he won’t be drawn into a simple explanation of where he is headed.
That is the hook. It is for the professional who has ticked every box and is still left with a question. The talk is not going to die down as more of us have to decide what we value more: the space to be free, or the feeling of being part of something.
