Sneha got her first credit card with a limit of ₹80,000 and felt rich in a way her bank balance could not confirm. The card arrived with a welcome gift, a free coffee mug, and a quiet promise that everything was affordable if you divided it by twelve.
In the first month she bought shoes. In the second, a phone cover and a slightly larger phone to go with it. By the third month, the card had a minimum due of ₹4,200 and a personality that Sneha described as clingy.
Her older cousin Nikhil sat her down with two glasses of lemon soda and one rule: pay the full bill, every month, on the day it arrives. “Interest is the only thing on that card that never goes on sale,” he said.
Sneha paid the full amount that month, ate home-cooked dinner for ten days, and learned what the grace period was for. The mug, to her surprise, stayed on her desk for years.
Today she uses the card for points and pays it off in full. When people say credit cards are dangerous, she says only if you treat the limit as income. Her mug agrees.