{"id":3033,"date":"2016-06-10T05:39:52","date_gmt":"2016-06-10T00:09:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3033"},"modified":"2016-06-10T05:39:52","modified_gmt":"2016-06-10T00:09:52","slug":"unemployment-survival-job-millennials","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=3033","title":{"rendered":"How to Survive Unemployment: A Short Horror Story"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

P<\/span><\/p><\/div>

reparing for unemployment is a lot like preparing for the <\/span>apocalypse<\/span><\/a>. You double-check all the resources you have, and start stocking up on supplies. And just like the apocalypse, unemployment can arrive without warning. As it did in my case \u2013 even though it was by choice. <\/span>\n\nAfter yet another miserable day at work, I came back home one night and screamed into my pillow, tears streaming down my face. After about an hour of weeping, I fell asleep thinking that I needed to slow down and catch my breath. I needed a break. I needed to quit, even if I did not have another job at hand. \u00a0<\/span>\n\nNow \u2013 at the risk of sounding like Captain Obvious \u2013 the first and most important thing you need to do before quitting is check your finances. Track your monthly expenses and cut out whatever\u2019s unnecessary. Sadly, that includes your Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hotstar subscription, no matter how many times you list that under the \u201cEssentials\u201d tab. \u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\n\nLike most <\/span>millennials<\/span><\/a>, Swiggy, Zomato, and PVR is what I spent all my money on. So my struggle began with saying no to outside food and multiplex visits. What worked in my favour was my frugality, probably a holdover from my <\/span>Sindhi<\/span><\/a> lineage. I realised that with my finances I could survive eight months without a job, even though I didn\u2019t plan to go on without one for so long. <\/span>\n\nBut more important than the financial problems, more important than the self-loathing that accompanies joblessness, is the niggling doubt about how others perceive you. This was my biggest concern during my days of unemployment. Quitting a job without any plans for the future, is not something parents and relatives take to comfortably. For my family, my unemployment meant I\u2019d be taking away their bragging rights. Now each time mum was asked, \u201cKya karta hai aap ka <\/span>ladla<\/span><\/a>?\u201d, she had to awkwardly change the subject. Suddenly, I went from the hardworking apple of my family\u2019s eye to the spoilt brat who didn\u2019t value things in life. <\/span>\n\n

One benefit of having 24 hours to yourself, is that you can take in your fill of all the shows you\u2019ve been missing out on, from Nat Geo documentaries to Gossip Girl.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\nBut the one thing that will suck the life out of you, will float around like a spectre in your waking hours, is the amount of free time you suddenly have on your hands. I had enough time to bite my nails in the fear that all the criticism from my fam is probably valid. <\/span>\n\nStill, unemployment is not all stress and no fun. One benefit of having 24 hours to yourself, is that you can take in your fill of all the shows you\u2019ve been missing out on, from Nat Geo documentaries to <\/span>Gossip Girl<\/span><\/i>. When the binge-watching gets tiring or you run out of what to watch (the latter is going to happen sooner), you might want to try your hand at something productive. I got back to running, and even experimented with cooking, which led me to a great epiphany: Cooking breakfast and taking my own time to eat it, rather than rushing through it just to make the 8.05 am train helped me calm my nerves and gave my day a great start. (Pro-tip: It\u2019s as effective as doing pranayam at 5 am.) <\/span>\n\nIt was after a routine of eat, sleep, run, repeat that I actively started looking for jobs. The first month flew by in a haze, and I realised if I was going to survive unemployment, I had to stick to a schedule. Ever since we stood in that school assembly line years ago, we\u2019ve become so attuned to somebody else deciding how we need to spend our time, that a sense of lethargy seeps in when we have time of our own.<\/span>\n\nThere were days when all I had to do was show up for interviews or just drop in at random offices and introduce myself as the newest entrant in the unemployment sector. But to get myself under a shower and into a fresh new set of clothes seemed like a task. That\u2019s when I realised that I had to get a job soon. Besides, I needed to renew my Netflix subscription. <\/span>\n\nBut when no jobs were in sight and it all seemed bleak, my family, who had for the past few months reserved only snide remarks for me, decided to take a holiday. I was invited (all expenses paid of course) and I tagged along. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\n\nA few days of putting up enviable pictures of Instagram later, I stopped cursing myself for taking a break. When I got back to the city, I had offers from three companies. The time I\u2019d spent not working helped me question a lot of the things I\u2019d taken for granted, and it also allowed me to arrive at a conclusion: Relax, the rat race is a lie.<\/span>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I desperately needed a break and quit my job. But then unemployment began to haunt me. What sucked the life out of me, was the amount of free time I had on my hands even after going for a run, cooking my own breakfast, and running out of shows to watch on Netflix<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":266,"featured_media":3034,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[107],"tags":[5969,5812,5970,1245,4425,5971],"class_list":["post-3033","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pov","tag-employment","tag-job","tag-jobless","tag-millennials","tag-survival","tag-unemployment"],"yoast_head":"\nHow to Survive Unemployment: A Short Horror Story<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I desperately needed a break and quit my job. But then unemployment began to haunt me. What sucked the life out of me, was the amount of free time I had on my hands even after going for a run, cooking my own breakfast, and running out of shows to watch on Netflix\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/?p=3033\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Survive Unemployment: A Short Horror Story\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I desperately needed a break and quit my job. But then unemployment began to haunt me. What sucked the life out of me, was the amount of free time I had on my hands even after going for a run, cooking my own breakfast, and running out of shows to watch on Netflix\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/?p=3033\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Arr\u00e9\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-06-10T00:09:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1532526726.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1520\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"850\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ash Gopalani\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"How to Survive Unemployment: A Short Horror Story\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"I desperately needed a break and quit my job. But then unemployment began to haunt me. What sucked the life out of me, was the amount of free time I had on my hands even after going for a run, cooking my own breakfast, and running out of shows to watch on Netflix\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ash Gopalani\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.arre.co.in\\\/?p=3033#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.arre.co.in\\\/?p=3033\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Ash Gopalani\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7312b4e95e10fea76b92e6c85d02d7fd\"},\"headline\":\"How to Survive Unemployment: A Short Horror Story\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-06-10T00:09:52+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.arre.co.in\\\/?p=3033\"},\"wordCount\":838,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.arre.co.in\\\/?p=3033#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1532526726.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Employment\",\"job\",\"jobless\",\"millennials\",\"survival\",\"unemployment\"],\"articleSection\":[\"POV\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.arre.co.in\\\/?p=3033\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.arre.co.in\\\/?p=3033\",\"name\":\"How to Survive Unemployment: A Short Horror Story\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.arre.co.in\\\/?p=3033#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.arre.co.in\\\/?p=3033#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1532526726.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-06-10T00:09:52+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7312b4e95e10fea76b92e6c85d02d7fd\"},\"description\":\"I desperately needed a break and quit my job. But then unemployment began to haunt me. What sucked the life out of me, was the amount of free time I had on my hands even after going for a run, cooking my own breakfast, and running out of shows to watch on Netflix\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.arre.co.in\\\/?p=3033#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.arre.co.in\\\/?p=3033\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.arre.co.in\\\/?p=3033#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1532526726.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1532526726.jpg\",\"width\":1520,\"height\":850},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.arre.co.in\\\/?p=3033#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How to Survive Unemployment: A Short Horror Story\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/\",\"name\":\"Arr\u00e9\",\"description\":\"In every person lies a creator and in every creator, an enterprise.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7312b4e95e10fea76b92e6c85d02d7fd\",\"name\":\"Ash Gopalani\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8b863f3c2e848bbb950c8331282e55f6d0ff653b16d8e6fbb2616de4144212c9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8b863f3c2e848bbb950c8331282e55f6d0ff653b16d8e6fbb2616de4144212c9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8b863f3c2e848bbb950c8331282e55f6d0ff653b16d8e6fbb2616de4144212c9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Ash Gopalani\"},\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/?author=266\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How to Survive Unemployment: A Short Horror Story","description":"I desperately needed a break and quit my job. But then unemployment began to haunt me. What sucked the life out of me, was the amount of free time I had on my hands even after going for a run, cooking my own breakfast, and running out of shows to watch on Netflix","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/?p=3033","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How to Survive Unemployment: A Short Horror Story","og_description":"I desperately needed a break and quit my job. But then unemployment began to haunt me. What sucked the life out of me, was the amount of free time I had on my hands even after going for a run, cooking my own breakfast, and running out of shows to watch on Netflix","og_url":"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/?p=3033","og_site_name":"Arr\u00e9","article_published_time":"2016-06-10T00:09:52+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1520,"height":850,"url":"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1532526726.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Ash Gopalani","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"How to Survive Unemployment: A Short Horror Story","twitter_description":"I desperately needed a break and quit my job. But then unemployment began to haunt me. What sucked the life out of me, was the amount of free time I had on my hands even after going for a run, cooking my own breakfast, and running out of shows to watch on Netflix","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ash Gopalani","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/?p=3033#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/?p=3033"},"author":{"name":"Ash Gopalani","@id":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/#\/schema\/person\/7312b4e95e10fea76b92e6c85d02d7fd"},"headline":"How to Survive Unemployment: A Short Horror Story","datePublished":"2016-06-10T00:09:52+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/?p=3033"},"wordCount":838,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/?p=3033#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1532526726.jpg","keywords":["Employment","job","jobless","millennials","survival","unemployment"],"articleSection":["POV"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/?p=3033","url":"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/?p=3033","name":"How to Survive Unemployment: A Short Horror Story","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/?p=3033#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/?p=3033#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1532526726.jpg","datePublished":"2016-06-10T00:09:52+00:00","author":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/#\/schema\/person\/7312b4e95e10fea76b92e6c85d02d7fd"},"description":"I desperately needed a break and quit my job. But then unemployment began to haunt me. What sucked the life out of me, was the amount of free time I had on my hands even after going for a run, cooking my own breakfast, and running out of shows to watch on Netflix","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/?p=3033#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/?p=3033"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/?p=3033#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1532526726.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1532526726.jpg","width":1520,"height":850},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/?p=3033#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How to Survive Unemployment: A Short Horror Story"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/#website","url":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/","name":"Arr\u00e9","description":"In every person lies a creator and in every creator, an enterprise.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/#\/schema\/person\/7312b4e95e10fea76b92e6c85d02d7fd","name":"Ash Gopalani","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8b863f3c2e848bbb950c8331282e55f6d0ff653b16d8e6fbb2616de4144212c9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8b863f3c2e848bbb950c8331282e55f6d0ff653b16d8e6fbb2616de4144212c9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8b863f3c2e848bbb950c8331282e55f6d0ff653b16d8e6fbb2616de4144212c9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Ash Gopalani"},"url":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?author=266"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1532526726.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3033","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/266"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3033"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3033\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3034"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3033"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3033"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3033"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}