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

     

In an era of water wars    

The serenity that the thin streams of water flowing graciously down the hill creates and the sanctity associated with it is all deeply buried under the issues related to it. It was once believed that sitting on the banks of a river or at the beach relaxes the mind. Ironically, it is now, a cause for regional and National stress.

     The Cauvery, an assurance of life for many, flowing from Talakaveri, her place of birth is no more known for scenic beauty under the blanket of dense white fog. The paper that makes it to the tea table each morning has a different story to say, a follow up of the infamous ‘Water wars’ issue.  

     A glass of pure water that quenches the thirst dries the mind. A sense of satisfaction that it fetches along is in no time swept away by the scepticism of whether we will have to fight for the same one fateful day.

  An optimistic spirit that something might turn good at the end is all smothered by the stench of a nearby drainage stream or a polluted lake. Ultimately, it is a glass of water that has the ability of calm a frustrated mind thinking of the water issue.