The most honest map of your options in India.
Not the glossy version. The real one.
What makes it different
For every path: what the work actually involves day to day, every real route in, the true cost, a realistic earnings range (not the top-1% fantasy), the competition and failure rates, where the work actually exists in India, and honestly, what people in it dislike about it.
A pathway card, as you’d actually see it.
Architecture
What the work actually involves: long stretches of drawing and revision, site visits, client compromise, and far more coordination than design.
Real route in: NATA / JEE Paper 2 → five-year B.Arch → mandatory internship → Council of Architecture registration.
True cost: roughly ₹4–25 lakh for the degree depending on institution, plus software and portfolio costs.
Realistic earnings: most start well below the figures quoted online; senior and self-employed practice is where earnings widen considerably.
What people in it dislike: the gap between design ambition and what budgets allow — and the long, unpaid early years.
Illustrative sample. Figures in the live Career Map are sourced and dated.