Each time my income grew, I made sure my SIP grew too

Summary: No windfall. No big bet. No grand plan. Just Rs 3,000 a month at twenty-three, raised with every appraisal before the lifestyle could catch up. The result, a decade later, was the kind of number that takes a moment to sink in.

Summary: No windfall. No big bet. No grand plan. Just Rs 3,000 a month at twenty-three, raised with every appraisal before the lifestyle could catch up. The result, a decade later, was the kind of number that takes a moment to sink in. I remember the day my first salary came in. I was twenty-three, freshly employed, and for the first time, money was flowing in rather than out. Rent, commute, groceries, the occasional dinner with friends, all had their claims on it. But after everything, some amount still remained. Not much, just enough to make a small choice. A colleague, a few years senior, gave me advice I almost ignored. “Start a SIP with whatever you