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Woman says her local dry cleaner earns ₹2 lakh a month, internet stunned: 'Income is not proportional to education'
A content creator’s post claiming her local dry cleaner earns over ₹2 lakh a month has surprised social media and sparked debate on income and careers.
A content creator’s post about her local dry cleaner earning over ₹2 lakh a month has gone viral on social media, leaving many users surprised and sparking a debate about income and careers. The post was shared on X by Nalini Unagar, who described a recent conversation with the owner of a dry cleaning shop near her home. According to her, the owner and his wife run the business together and employ two helpers on a salary.
“Yesterday, I was talking with the dry cleaning shop owner near my house, where I regularly go. He and his wife both work together, and they have two helpers on salary. I was shocked when they said they earn around ₹2,00,000 per month, which is equal to a 10+ years experienced software engineer in India,” she wrote.
Unagar also shared a detailed income breakdown provided by the shop owner. She claimed the shop irons around 350 clothes daily at ₹10 each, generating roughly ₹3,500 per day. Additionally, about 20 heavy garments such as suits, cholis, and premium sarees are dry-cleaned and ironed at ₹350 each, bringing in another ₹7,000 daily. Based on these figures, the total daily income comes to approximately ₹10,500. With only 3 days off each month, the estimated monthly revenue stands at ₹2,83,500.
She added that the shop owners do not pay rent as they own the space. Their reported expenses include an electricity bill of about ₹6,000 and salaries of ₹40,000 for two helpers. After deducting these costs, the couple is left with a profit of roughly ₹2,37,500, she shared.
“They told me these figures are from last month, but on average, they earn ₹2 lakh+ every month,” Unagar noted.
(Also Read: NRI content creator in America says ‘India kuch cheezon may next level hai’, video sparks debate)
Social media reactions
The post quickly caught the attention of social media users, triggering mixed reactions.
“Meanwhile, engineers are debugging code at 2 AM for ₹2L a month…, and bhaiya is debugging wrinkles in 2 minutes for the same salary. Moral of the story: Should’ve learned ‘steam engineering’ instead of software engineering,” one user wrote.
“Most importantly, they don’t pay tax on that profit/income! 80% of India is like this (at a different scale of profit, of course!). Even if half of them pay ‘nominal’ tax, that would reduce the burden on others who are lifting the entire society today!!” commented another.
“The real lesson isn’t ‘quit IT and open a shop.’ It’s this: Income is not proportional to education. It’s proportional to value captured,” wrote a third user.
“We’re conditioned to run after white-collar jobs and fixed paychecks, but stories like this remind us that owning a business—small or big—can be equally fulfilling, and sometimes far more rewarding, when done with genuine passion. Appreciate you sharing this perspective,” commented another.
