My wife’s relative was complaining about the cost of vegetables and gas. Nothing new there since the man is always complaining about something or the other! I asked him how much he took home in salary in a year. After a lot of hesitation, he answered. I asked him if this number included his part-time job as an architect. He hummed and hawwed and replied No. Whether the number he gave me was the actual number or not is up for debate. I then asked him how much he spent, on an average, in a month on groceries, gas and utilities. He thought for a bit and told me. I then did some quick mental math and found he was spending approximately 30% of his salary. I then asked him what his architectural consultancy gave him. He replied with a number. He was making the same amount! That means he was spending about 15% of his gross pay on his needs! The remaining was his to do what he wanted. I told him this and he said he was able to save ONLY Rs 10,000 a month! I then asked him what he did with his remaining money and he didn’t have an answer. The truth is most middle to upper middle class people have the same type of “problems”. On a quick thought, I asked him how much he saved 5 years ago and he replied ‘7500-10000’. Now, I knew his complaints were more to do with the current government and not the cost of living!
What is wrong with these people? Gone are the days when a majority of people were employed by the government. Now the private sector rules! People are given better pay and benefits, they don’t have to live submissive lives and yet, they are never satisfied!!! Five years ago, the same people were making much less but also had to deal with inflation at very high levels. They didn’t see a way to resolve the issue and resigned to it. Now inflation is at a significantly low level and yet, they think it could be better! Yes it could, but it’s never going to be 0%! Those that think it can, live in a fool’s paradise! I asked him whether he thought the congress party was better at solving these problems! Again, he hummed and hawwed for a bit and said,’Maybe because they have more experience in resolving these issues’. I had to stifle my laughter, as my wife gave me one of those “looks”. Is this what our so-called educated class thinks? What experience does the INC have? That was my question to him. He replied very confidently that 60 years has not all been bad. I said ‘ok’ and he continued, ‘to a large extent, the problems we are facing today have to do with the changes in policies that swing like a pendulum. One day we have petrol that is subsidized, the next day we don’t. We used to get rice that was price controlled but now we have to pay significantly more. I can go on but you see what I’m saying’. Huh? Subsidized petrol and rice is what people are looking for? Government subsidies don’t mean nobody pays for them! We all do, we just don’t realize it!
We’re all human! We like freebies, who doesn’t! Three for the price of two doesn’t mean you’re getting one for free, it just means the price has been adjusted to accommodate the Sale! Ration rice was probably good for some but most people had a problem with it, more to do with quality than anything else. As for petrol, even with all the subsidies the common man was paying upwards of 70 Rs per liter. Have we forgotten this?
The country has gone through a radical change in the past few years. Where we once had apathy, we now have empathy! Where we once stood in line with a bowl looking for dole outs, we now stand giving money to those countries that need it. Where our people once were called beggars, the same people are now looked at with respect and admiration! Our image in the world has taken an upward swing, the likes of which we had never witnessed! And we are looking for subsidized rice and petrol! God help this country. I stand corrected, EVEN GOD CAN NOT HELP THIS COUNTRY!!
Comments
Post a Comment