Money matters

How does one react when a distant relative or friend tries to enquire about your salary.

BE CREATIVE: Find different and humourous ways

to dodge the salary question



HOW much do you earn?” This is one of those much hated questions which everyone tries to dodge when asked at some point or the other. When marketing executive Anjali Phadke was asked the same question by one of her distant relatives, she was shocked and confused. Many times we face this situation which we cannot ignore. Neither do you want to spoil your relationship by being blunt about your inhibitions about revealing the ‘figure’ nor do you want to give a straight reply. So what does one do? IT professional Kinjal Jain suggests that one should come up with something creative. “When my aunt asked me how much I earned I just brushed aside the question by saying that it was enough to fulfil all my shopping desires.”

It’s a well-known fact that one should never ask a man his salary. Yet there are people who just forget all manners and pop the question, directly or indirectly. Sometimes, the question is so direct and on the face that it’s very difficult to ignore. Ajit Khandekar, a media manager says, “Whenever I was asked this question, I would just wink at the person, say ‘it’s a secret’ and giggle. Though I genuinely don’t mind revealing the figure, it gets irritating when relatives or friends, who are distant to the point of being unknown, try to get too friendly or when aunts ask the question to start comparing the figure with their kids.” Sometimes, the question is thrown at you indirectly and you just don’t understand you to react. Sumita Dhar tried to ignore the question, but failed. She narrates, “Someone asked me this question by saying that when they were at my level, they earned a particular figure and wanted to know how much times had changed. Instantly I knew where the conversation was heading to so I tried to dodge the question by weaving various abstract answers around it. This went on for more than half an hour and neither of us would give up. At the end of it, we were both tired and irritated and ignored each other for many days to come.”

While it’s impolite to ask someone their salary, motivational speaker and corporate trainer Minocher Patel tells you to go the humourous way. He suggests, “There are many ways to reply but it should always be with a dash of humour. You could just say that ‘I haven’t got my salary for a long time now, so don’t remember what my pay is, or the company is planning to revise the salary and you are hoping for a raise.” Humour definitely is the best way to go, but when it’s an elderly person asking you, you have to give some sensible reply. Abhishek Choudhary, a media professional says, “My grand mother’s friend once tried to get to personal by asking me my salary. There were people around me and some of them definitely earned more than I did. I was really embarrassed to reveal my salary. So, I just said, ‘what ever I earn gets spent so please teach me how to save’. I wouldn’t say that this was a good reply because I had to spend the next few hours listening to tips and tricks to save money.”

Times will change and so will people, The ques tion of one’s salary will continue to be asked. But one can always come up with a quick reply to dogdge the question.