A PINCH FELT HARD 

      It is a common saying that it is neither the higher nor the lower strata of the society that suffers. The higher are satisfied that everything is an arm’s distance away and the lower are mostly convinced that certain commodities are way too far for them to reach. It is the lower middle class hanging on a ray of hope with one leg on either side that feels the pinch of every price hike.

     It is rupees seven thousand with which Raju( name changed) has to run a household. An auto driver by profession, this 38 year old has a wife and two kids to cater to. And, in an attempt to combat the recent hike, he is forced to work overtime.

     He is expected to shell an amount of 2,000 for his twelve year old boy’s education alone. His 14 year old little girl is forced to stay back home and help mom as school fee for her would mean zero savings for her dad.   An ailing wife with asthma also does basic tailoring, the profits of which is just sufficient to pay the medical bills.

  

    A worried Raju expressed his anxiety over shelling more on the groceries than he did earlier. With the price of every commodity from rice to fuel increased, for someone who counts every single pie earned is a pinch felt hard.

  It is one typical case that reflects the ironic side of ‘hole in the pocket’. A count on every person from the lower income group affected by the hike also means a count of them whose savings are decreasing pie by pie.

     For a man from the lower middle strata with the responsibility of schooling of one and marriage of another, a monthly savings of rupees 1,500 only reflect that his dreams are close to horizon where every day’s sun raises and sets leaving him with a night of thoughts and worries.     

With inputs from Axi Tak