- A 34-year-old Gurgaon man earning Rs 40 lakh yearly suffered insomnia and anxiety despite financial success
- He felt poor due to comparing himself with wealthy startup founders and social media personalities
- Dr Sunny Garg called this "modern poverty," where rising expectations outpace income growth
A viral post by consultant oncologist Dr Sunny Garg has sparked a wider conversation about success, comparison, and the psychological pressures faced by India's urban professionals. The discussion began when Dr. Garg shared the story of a 34-year-old Gurgaon resident who came to him suffering from severe insomnia and anxiety. On paper, the man appeared to be doing exceptionally well. He earned around Rs 40 lakh a year, lived in a 2BHK apartment, and drove a BMW. Yet during the consultation, he made a surprising confession.
"Doctor, I think I'm very poor. I can't sleep at night," he said.
Rather than dismissing the statement, Dr Garg said he recognised it as a reflection of a growing problem among high-earning professionals. By conventional standards, the man is financially successful and belongs to India's top income bracket. However, his sense of self-worth is no longer shaped by his actual earnings but by the people he compares himself with.
According to the doctor, the man's reference point has shifted dramatically over the years. Instead of comparing himself with people from his hometown or those with more traditional careers, he now measures his success against startup founders, entrepreneurs, and social media personalities who have accumulated wealth worth tens or even hundreds of crores at a young age.
"Statistically, he's in the top 1% of earners in India. Yet he feels poor. Why? Because his reference point has shifted. Earlier, he compared himself to the neighbour in his village whose son worked as a clerk. Now he compares himself to a 28-year-old on LinkedIn who sold a startup and is sitting on Rs 80 crore," the doctor explained.
Dr Garg described this phenomenon as a form of "modern poverty", not the absence of money, but the inability to feel satisfied because expectations rise faster than income.
To better understand the man's mindset, the doctor asked him three questions. The first was how many times in the previous year he had told himself, "I am enough." His answer: never.
The second question was who he was earning all this money for. After some reflection, the man admitted he did not really know. He was simply trying to keep pace with people around him who seemed to be advancing faster. The final question was whether there was a single activity in his life that he did not do for money or career advancement. Again, the answer was no.
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For Dr Garg, the responses revealed that the problem was not financial. It was existential. The man had achieved professional success but had lost sight of purpose, fulfillment and identity beyond work and income.
"When money becomes the measure of every activity, you stop being a human being and become a machine," doctor said.
The doctor's message resonated widely online. Many users agreed that comparison has become one of the biggest sources of stress in the social media era, where people are constantly exposed to curated success stories, luxury lifestyles and extraordinary wealth.
One user wrote, "OMG.... People should only focus on doing good karma... That's it... That's your life purpose... When your past karma is positive, everything else would be taken care of."
Another commented, "Comparison always kills the joy."
A third said, "Very well described. Working as a pharmacist. Decade ago highest prescribing drugs were anti hypertensive and now it is anti-depressants. And surprisingly the age group is starting from teenager and mid of thirties."
A fourth added, "Self-satisfaction is important, brother. Live your life instead of running a race with others. Just enjoy it, because everything here is temporary and will be left behind anyway."
