A Hyderabad-based couple, whose careers belong to two very different professional worlds, has opened up about how they balance their work routines, finances and marriage. While the woman works in the corporate sector, her husband is a government-sector employee with Indian Oil Corporation.
Couple spends around ₹1.1 lakh every month
From dealing with unpredictable transfers and contrasting work cultures to maintaining a household that costs nearly ₹1.1 lakh every month, the couple believes that having one partner in the private sector and another in a government organisation allows them to enjoy “the best of both worlds”.
Speaking with HT.com, Suruchi Singh said she is originally from Kolkata, while her husband, Shubham Kumar Singh, belongs to Patna. The couple, who are currently based in Hyderabad, have been married for over a year after dating for three years.
Suruchi is a law graduate from Amity University and works in the corporate sector. Her husband is an electrical engineer from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur. He secured an All India Rank of 778 in the Joint Entrance Examination Advanced in 2014.
“My husband is an IIT Kharagpur Alumni. He works as Manager(officer) in Indian Oil. He was AIR 175 in UPSC EPFO but he did not pursue career there. His Job is transferable pan India,” she said.
The couple’s daily schedules differ significantly because Shubham has to attend the office physically, while Suruchi is allowed to work from home three days a week.
Comparing the two work cultures, Suruchi said employees in the corporate sector may remain intensely occupied during designated office hours. However, once their assigned work is completed, they are often able to disconnect.
Suruchi also shared a breakdown of the couple’s approximate monthly household expenditure in Hyderabad. Their expenses include ₹35,000 in rent, ₹10,000 for household help, ₹20,000 for groceries and ₹5,000 towards electricity and maintenance.
They also pay a car equated monthly instalment of ₹12,000. Around ₹20,000 is spent on weekend outings, while transport expenses amount to approximately ₹10,000.
“Our monthly expenses go something like this. 35k for rent, 10k household help, 20k groceries, 5k electricity and maintenance, 12k car EMI, 20k for weekend outings , transport 10k. This comes roughly around 110k a month,” she said.
Rent remains their biggest recurring expense. Including maintenance, the housing cost reaches approximately ₹40,000 per month.
To balance spending and saving, the couple follows a simple financial strategy: they attempt to run their household using Suruchi’s salary while saving most of Shubham’s income.
“We plan to manage all our expenses from one salary and leave the other for savings or for fun activities. My salary entirely goes for day to day home expenses, rent etc. While his salary we try to save,” she said.
Since they are newly married, their spending on travel, outings and recreational activities is presently higher. However, they have fixed a minimum amount that must be saved every month.
“Since we are recently married, our fun expenses are more these days. But anyhow we do have certain amount fixed monthly to be saved irrespective of anything,” she added.
Suruchi said people sometimes assume that couples working in different environments may gradually become disconnected or seek emotional comfort from colleagues.
She believes a working marriage requires mutual trust as well as conscious efforts to address each other’s doubts and insecurities.
“While I do agree that if both people are working you do have to trust each other more and each should make positive efforts towards removing your partners insecurities if any exists,” she said.
“At the end of the day if you love and trust each other you put efforts to make things work,” she added.
Sharing advice for other couples with contrasting careers, Suruchi said their relationship and sense of achievement should not be defined entirely by their jobs.
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Suruchi also highlighted what she described as a major difference in how performance and accountability are evaluated in the two sectors.
“In corporate job you’re judged by how much you have worked, but in govt job you’re judged on if anything went wrong under you or not,” she said.
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She said their weekdays are largely occupied by professional responsibilities, but they try to make the most of their evenings and weekends. Since they do not have children at present, they are also able to spend considerable time together.
“He has to attend office physically while I get to work from home for 3 days a week. Weekends are fun but during weekdays we are pretty much on our own. Since we don’t have a child right now, we get ample time for each other,” Suruchi said.
She added that they both enjoy small gestures such as preparing tea and cooking meals for each other.
“On days when I do work from home, I am very much like a traditional wife who greets her husband with tea in the evening. He very much does the same when I go to office and he reaches early. We enjoy cooking for each other,” she shared.
To manage household responsibilities alongside their jobs, the couple has also hired domestic help. Suruchi believes support from family and household staff becomes particularly important when both partners are employed.
She comes from a business-oriented family where no one holds a government job. As a result, she had earlier considered such careers monotonous. Her opinion changed after observing her husband’s work and understanding the security it provides.
“I used to think of them as boring. But the more I get to know the job, I feel it is a blessing in disguise that one of has a job in which he cannot be fired easily so planning to buy property and other long term commitments become easier,” she said.
At the same time, her corporate career has given her husband, who comes from a family of government employees, an insight into the private sector’s target-driven environment.
“He cherishes the rush of deadlines, reward based systems and the ability to switch companies if you feel like,” Suruchi said.
She believes the couple’s contrasting careers help them benefit from both sectors.
“You’re getting the best of both worlds. If corporate sector is doing good I’ll get benefitted and if govt sector does well then also we are rewarded. And as stated earlier, I can explore more in life with lesser risk,” she said.
Since Shubham’s job is transferable across India, the couple may have to relocate depending on his posting. Suruchi acknowledged that transfers can be difficult, particularly when both partners are pursuing their own careers.
However, the availability of work-from-home arrangements in the corporate sector has made relocation more manageable.
“Build your life outside work. Your happy place and your sense of achievement should come from the life youre building together not the individual things you do in your life to enable your livelihood,” she said.
She also urged couples to find common interests and regularly participate in activities together.
“Find something in common you both are interested in and do activities together. It is very easier to get lost in your work and let your marriage take a backseat. This creates scepticism and insecurity no matter how much you love each other,” she concluded.
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Her husband, on the other hand, may have greater flexibility in managing his office schedule but is expected to remain available beyond conventional working hours.
“In corporate you’re more busy when you are in your office timings, but for him even at home he has to pick calls. Something or the other is always going on in his office,” she explained.
“Earlier I didn’t think so, but now with all the layoffs going on, it feels safer that one of us is not going to lose his job. It even gives me freedom to explore other avenues like business or startups,” she said.
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“There are definite challenges. Family support is must in this, specially if you plan a family. We do have household help for our trivial chores which I guess is must if both are working,” she said.
“You can say that he has flexibility in his office to work according to his wishes but he has to be available for 24 hours. In contrast I have to finish the work given to me and then switch off,” she added.
According to her, fear of inquiries, documentation errors or disciplinary proceedings can sometimes discourage government employees from experimenting or taking additional initiatives.
“Evidently this leads to many people not working more or innovating because that may lead to something wrong happening and you can be even chargesheeted. There is no incentive to work more. More work more cases, less work less cases on you,” she said.
Suruchi admitted that she had not initially understood the stability associated with government employment. However, widespread layoffs in private companies have changed her perspective.
(Also read: Techie sarcastically calls corporate jobs ‘useless’ for offering employees too much comfort)
“Transfers are a big challenge but it also means we get to travel and explore more places basically on government sponsored trips. Earlier it was a much bigger challenge but now with Work from Home available it has become very viable,” she said.
Despite their professional commitments, the couple tries to protect their weekends. Suruchi said they avoid working on weekends unless something urgent requires their attention.
“We make sure not to work on weekends until its very urgent and even if we have to suffer monetary loss we keep our weekends free for each other,” she said.
“We go for night walks regularly where we discuss our days and family gossips,” she added.
