u/anoking100

30M, living alone in Bangalore, and honestly going through one of the hardest phases of my life right now.

I completed my graduation from one of the top universities in Karnataka, followed by an MBA from a well-known B-school. After that, I joined a company and worked there for a couple of years.

Then one day, literally the day before my salary for the previous month was supposed to be credited, they called me and said the project had been deferred, operations were stopping, and I should start looking for another job. They never even paid me for the work I had already done that month.

Since then, I’ve been unemployed and struggling to find something stable. I’ve attended many interviews and even came close to getting a few roles, but one of them had a package so low that I couldn’t bring myself to accept it. Maybe that was my mistake, I don’t know. I just kept feeling that after spending so much on education and seeing most of my batchmates doing well financially, I should be able to get something better too.

To make things worse, at one point I even paid someone who promised they could help me get a job opportunity, and they ended up scamming me and disappearing after taking the money. That honestly broke whatever little confidence and trust I still had left at that point..

Most days, I feel extremely stressed.

My monthly expenses including rent, food, EMIs, and basics come to around 40–45k minimum, and there are always additional expenses on top of that. Right now, my parents are supporting me financially. My dad retired a few years ago, and I feel terrible taking money from their limited savings because of my poor planning and lack of savings. On top of all this, I’ve also been dealing with some health issues lately, which has meant spending even more money on doctor visits, scans, and medical tests while already being financially stressed

The guilt honestly eats me up.

I feel like I’ve let them down. I know they’re stressed because of my situation too, even if they don’t always say it openly.

At this point, I genuinely don’t know what to do anymore. I’ve almost given up on the idea of getting a “good” job. I’ve tried figuring out independent projects with a friend because I do have skills and experience, but that hasn’t worked out either so far.

In my free time, I make electronic meditative music and upload it on YouTube. It’s one of the few things that keeps me mentally okay, but since it doesn’t earn me money, I’ve started feeling guilty about spending time on that too.

I just wish life was a little easier sometimes.

There are days where I feel like giving up completely, but then I think about my parents and how much they’ve done for me. More than anything, I want to someday give back to them and make them proud and peaceful in their old age.

I’ve always tried to be kind-hearted and genuine with people around me, so sometimes I honestly wonder why life has turned out this way.

I’m not really posting this for sympathy. Maybe I just wanted to say it somewhere out loud because carrying it alone every day feels heavy. If nothing else, I just ask for your prayers, good wishes, or even a few words of hope.

I really hope life gets better before it’s too late.

There’s honestly a lot more I could say, but this itself already feels like too much. I’m not very active on Reddit, but maybe sharing this with strangers will help me feel a little lighter somehow.

Matched with someone on Bumble in Kolkata who insisted that a particular hookah cafe/lounge near the Bypass area was “really good” and suggested we meet there. The place was on the 3rd floor of a building in that area.

Once we sat down, she started ordering drinks very quickly one after another, along with hookah and food, and kept saying she wanted to get drunk fast and then go somewhere else afterwards. Within a very short time, I was suddenly handed a huge bill.

When I questioned it, the environment became intimidating. The waiter was rude and there were other men around who made the situation feel uncomfortable enough that I just wanted to pay and leave safely without escalating things.

I later realized this may be a known dating app cafe scam setup. I had around ₹20,000 in savings at that time and lost most of it that day itself.

Posting this mainly for awareness so others stay careful when someone insists on taking you to a specific cafe/bar on a first meeting.

I’m also genuinely in need financially right now because of this incident, so if anyone knows whether there’s any practical/legal way to report such places or possibly recover any of the money now, please let me know.

Has anyone else experienced something similar in Kolkata or elsewhere?