How to approach the topic of not getting a joining bonus when everyone else did?

Hi everyone, I wanted to get some perspective on how to handle a slightly awkward situation.

When I joined my current organization, aTier-1 firm, I was offered X as base pay with no joining bonus. During the offer call, I asked about it, and the recruiter said something along the lines of: “If you want, I can deduct one or two lakhs from your base and show it as a joining bonus — but it’s the same amount at the end of the day, so it doesn’t help you.” At the time, I thought that made sense (rookie mistake), so I let it go.

Later, after joining and talking to peers who joined just before, with, and after me (same or even less experience), I found out that almost everyone else received a decent joining bonus — on top of the same base pay or better.

Now, my appraisal cycle is coming up next month. I don’t want to sound entitled or whiny, but I do feel like I missed out on something due to not knowing better back then.

My questions are:

Is it reasonable to bring this up now, or should I just accept the upcoming appraisal quietly and move on?

If I do bring it up, what’s the best way to phrase it so it sounds constructive rather than complaining?

I genuinely like my team and want to stay, but I’d like to understand the right way to handle this conversation.

Would really appreciate any advice from folks who’ve navigated similar situations.