Can money buy happiness? Indian woman in Dubai says ₹18,000 salary in Bengaluru brought her more joy

An Indian woman living in Dubai took her rant online, reigniting the age-old question: Does money truly buy happiness?

Seema Purohit, a travel and fashion influencer, rants about her corporate job in Dubai and says that her ₹18,000 salary in Bengaluru gave her more happiness in her modest first job than her high-paying career in Dubai.

In the viral video, she claimed (in Hindi), “My salary in Bengaluru was only ₹18,000; it was my first job. And when I got my salary, I felt like the richest girl in the world.” She claimed that in ₹18,000, she managed her PG rent, indulged in street shopping, enjoyed canteen meals, went clubbing every weekend, and still saved a couple of thousand rupees at the end of the month.

Compared to her lavish lifestyle in Dubai and high-paying job, she is not happy. She said, “Aaj ₹18,000 se kai zyada kama rahi hu, Dubai mein hu, but still utni khush nahi hu jitni tab thi” (Today I earn much more than ₹18,000, I’m in Dubai, but still I’m not as happy as I was back then).

The video that garnered over 30,000 views was captioned, “Life gave me lemons, and I’m here to rant about it.”