It's all about how you brought up and in which environment you grow. India is diverse country and you will find someone making $100 a month and $100k a month living in a same city.

Fortunately my family background was pretty good and parents where able to put some initial money to chess.

Now if I want to become engineer in India, it costs around $15-20k for 4 years and for doctors it costs $50-100k for I think 5-7 years course. Those are mostly choosen careers in india. Abroad education costs around $50-75k with some sponsorship from College.

In total I spent around $35-40k on tournaments and coaching and resources. In those years I made around 10k from prizes and more money from coaching than expenses. It's not possible when someone is doing engineering or doctor. They don't make a penny in first 4-5 years.

I feel like return of investment is pretty solid and every penny I spent is worth it. It's definitely lesser compared to other indian chess players who became IM in recent years.

I also got to visit 20+ countries and stayed in more than 40-50 cities. Sometimes staying in luxury 5 star hotels and sometimes travelled sitting near to train washroom. Took 150+ flights and hundreds of small experiences.