Cheeni Kum Hai

When I was a kid, I watched a movie of Amitabh Bachchan and Tabu titled Cheeni Kum. Its concept was different from other movies of that time, which followed the same old pattern — a hero, a villain, a comedian, and lots of masala common to all Bollywood films. But this film was different; it broke the social norms of society. I liked the concept because it breaks the old pattern. It feels right because people connect through their mutual level of maturity, not through age. But yes, one needs courage to support this line of thought.

Now, let me come to the point. I hardly pay heed to such things, as it is all about individual choices and not my area of concern. What concerns me is inflation. Sugar has risen to Rs. 70 per kg! Now Johnny will not eat sugar because there is no sugar at home. For a person like me, life without sugar is like life without air.

I remember during Dr. Manmohan Singh's government, we kept criticizing them for inflation as prices of essential commodities were rising. But when I compare that with today's scenario, I feel the former was much better. Petrol is now Rs. 105 with ethanol and approximately Rs. 170 without it. What a huge hype? It seems galloping inflation is not too far.

As a student of economics, I am concerned about the most dangerous form of inflation — galloping and hyperinflation. Of course, my post is of no use to those who are too rich. For them, nothing really matters. It will affect me slightly too, but what about those who live hand-to-mouth? What about those whose main diet is sugar — the labour class? They actually need it desperately for survival.

Sitting in a room and talking about expensive branded sweet products may seem good to us. We may flaunt that we like this and we like that, but think about those living below the poverty line and those from the lower middle class who can't even talk about their plight in public or in private. I think we don't have time to think about it because we are just worrying about completing our protien intake for the day.