# Father Earns ₹1 Crore a Year, But No One in Family Is Happy: A Reddit User's Heart-Wrenching Tale Goes Viral
**November 6, 2025** – In the glow of Diwali lamps and the hum of festive markets, one Reddit user's anonymous post has pierced the illusion of the "good life." Titled "Dad makes 1Cr/year, but we're all miserable—am I the villain for wanting out?", the thread on r/IndiaSpeaks exploded overnight, racking up 15K upvotes and 2K comments. It's a raw confession from a 28-year-old Mumbai software engineer, spilling the beans on a family trapped in the golden cage of high income but zero fulfillment. As India's middle class swells (projected to hit 1 billion by 2030 per McKinsey), this story isn't just a vent—it's a mirror to the silent epidemic of affluent discontent. Why chase crores when joy slips through the cracks? Let's dive into the post that's got everyone from IT cubicles to corner chai stalls buzzing.
## The Post That Hit Too Close to Home
u/AnonCoderMum, a pseudonymous poster, laid it bare in a 1,200-word essay that's equal parts therapy session and family autopsy. Her father, a 55-year-old VP at a multinational fintech firm, pulls in ₹1.02 crore annually—think bonuses that could fund a dream wedding, a South Delhi flat upgrade, or that elusive Europe vacay. On paper? Peak success. In reality? A household simmering with resentment.
- **The Father's Grind**: "He leaves at 6 AM, back at 10 PM—if at all. Weekends? Emails. His idea of bonding is quizzing me on stock tips over cold dinner." The dad sacrificed hobbies (guitar lessons abandoned post-MBA), friendships (networking replaced barbecues), and health (BP meds at 50) for the ladder climb. Now, promotions feel hollow; burnout's his shadow.
- **The Mother's Silent Storm**: A former teacher turned full-time homemaker, she's "the invisible CEO of chaos." Post-kids, her world shrank to meal preps and PTA wars. "She scrolls Insta reels of women her age trekking Himalayas, then stares at the puja corner, whispering prayers for 'just one laugh a day.' Dad's money bought ACs, but not conversations."
- **The Sibling Squeeze**: The poster's 25-year-old brother, fresh IIT grad, echoes the cycle—₹25LPA job in Bangalore, but "he FaceTimes us crying over imposter syndrome, chasing Dad's ghost." Family dinners? Rare battlegrounds of passive-aggression: "Why aren't you promoted yet?" vs. "Why don't you see us?"
- **The Poster's Breaking Point**: Amid it all, she's the "black sheep"—ditching a high-pay FAANG offer for a ₹12LPA gig at an NGO, focusing on mental health apps for rural India. "They call me ungrateful. But I'm the only one sleeping without anxiety knots. Am I selfish for choosing joy over the family ATM?"
The thread's rawness—typos from tear-streaked typing, embedded screenshots of family WhatsApp fights—struck a chord. Top comment: "This is every Indian parent's love language: provision over presence. Heartbreaking."
## Why the Money Mirage? Unpacking the Family's Unhappiness
Reddit's armchair therapists dissected it like a case study, blending desi wisdom with psych 101. Here's the crux, boiled down:
| Pain Point | The Reality in This Family | Broader Indian Echo (2025 Stats) |
|---------------------|---------------------------------------------|----------------------------------|
| **Work-Life Imbalance** | Dad's 70-hour weeks leave zero bandwidth for empathy. | 62% of high-earners report burnout (Indeed survey); India tops global overtime hours. |
| **Unspoken Expectations** | Kids measure success by salary slips, not smiles—perpetuating the rat race. | 1 in 3 millennials feel "trapped" by parental pride in paychecks (Deloitte). |
| **Emotional Neglect** | Money mends roofs, not rifts; mom's hobbies died with the kids' diapers. | 45% of urban housewives battle depression (NFHS-6); therapy stigma persists. |
| **Cultural Pressure** | "Log kya kahenge?"—fear of judgment over unflashy happiness. | Social media amps it: #RichKidIndia trends with 500M views, hiding the voids. |
| **No Exit Strategy** | Family therapy? "Waste of money." Vacations? "Work trips only." | Only 15% of affluent families seek counseling (APA India). |
Commenters piled on: A CA from Chennai shared, "My dad's 80LPA pension couldn't buy back the childhood weekends lost to audits." A therapist mod chimed in: "High income often correlates with low EQ—affluence buys options, not operating manuals for love."
The viral twist? u/AnonCoderMum's update 48 hours later: "Dad read the post (yeah, he lurks Reddit). We had our first real talk last night—no phones, just chai and tears. He's cutting back to 50 hours/week. Baby steps, but damn, it feels like breathing again."
## The Ripple Effect: From Reddit to Real Change
This isn't isolated—r/India's "Rich but Broke Inside" megathread now has 50K subs, a hub for tales of luxury laced with loneliness. It's fueling a mini-movement: #FamilyOverFigures challenges popping up on Insta, with influencers like Tanmay Bhat sharing his own "quit-the-corporate-poison" arc. Economists nod too—India's GDP chase (aiming 8% growth) masks a happiness deficit; World Happiness Report 2025 ranks us 126th, despite booming billionaires.
For u/AnonCoderMum's clan, the silver lining? That crore's staying, but now earmarked for family sabbaticals and a therapist's couch. As one wise commenter put it: "Money's a tool, not the treasure. Dig deeper."
## Your Turn: Is Success the Enemy of Joy?
This Reddit saga's a gut-punch reminder: In 2025's hustle porn era, pause and ask—what's your family's real ROI? If you're nodding along, share your story below. Ever chosen peace over paycheck? Or felt the weight of "providing" too much? Let's unpack it together—no judgment, just real talk.
Hit that upvote if this resonated, and tag a loved one who needs the nudge. Happiness isn't taxable, folks—claim it.
*Disclaimer: Names and details anonymized for privacy. If you're struggling, reach out to iCall (022-25521111) or a trusted pro. Stories like this inspire, but they're not one-size-fits-all advice.*
A 21-year-old Reddit user shared an emotional post after discovering his father’s old salary slips. His father, now 50 and earning nearly ₹1 crore a year, earned just ₹3.2 lakh annually in 2010. Yet, those were the happiest years of their lives, the user recalled.
The family went to malls every week, watched movies, ate out, bought branded clothes and even had gaming consoles like PSPs, an iPod and an Xbox 360. The father provided them all on that modest income.
The son said his father had never let them feel the financial strain, managing everything quietly while keeping the home filled with laughter.
Around 2017-18, things changed. Outings stopped, and tension slowly replaced joy. Though his father’s income grew sharply, so did the distance within the family. Fights became frequent, conversations fewer and emotional warmth faded.
“Now he earns close to 1 crore a year, but no one in the house is happy. There are constant fights. I know fights happened before too, but now I feel everything so much more clearly,” the Reddit user wrote.
“I don’t think I can ever be like him. He protected us from the stress when we had very little. And now that we have so much, it feels like the family has fallen apart,” he added.
Now, his parents barely talk, and he himself feels distant.
“My parents barely talk. I barely talk to them. I’ll probably move out after college. Everything feels so crushed,” the user wrote.
