Inflation is troubling me.
Not only is my life suddenly plagued by its multiple manifestations but, I have also somehow been coaxed into doing a math project on the topic. The BJP, the CPIM and various political parties in India are trying to gain a little attention by cribbing about it (Surprisingly this still does not give inflation any credentials) and it is receiving a hell lot of attention from the media as well (at least it was until Lalit Modi’s childhood caught our imagination), hence another article on the topic is not really welcome. But the topic I focus on today is not really inflation and its effects on the WPI but rather inflation and its effects on the goods we have purchasing since we got our 1st weekly pocket money .
Inflation first came into my life when I was 9 years old. I used to study in Jasudben Manilal Lalubai Experimental High School and of the many facilities this wonderful institution offered (cement road for throw-ball, same cement road for volleyball, school bus etc...) one was the canteen. The canteen of JML (as it is popularly known (for obvious reasons)) is easily the most important building in the school and it was most famous for its Pav- Vada. When I was in the 4th grade pav-vada cost Rs3.50p, in the 5th prices rose till Rs 4 and by the 6th prices was sky high at Rs4.50p. Now I left school in the 6th but I’ve heard that the prices just kept going up. If this isn’t inflation then I don’t know what is. In this case the school clearly took advantage of the fact that they held a monopoly over a captive market filled with customers with pea sized brains and 10 bucks to spend. The same sly trick has been played on me by my Sev Puri Valla, my slightly upper class Pani Puri Valla and even the guy who sells Mangola ( MRP doesn’t stop him, he has increased the so called “Cooling” charges). As we grew older our purchasing power improved and for the 1st time we knew what it was like to buy our own movie tickets. It was great in the beginning, Gaiety had 35 buck tickets and the intermission Samosa was 10 bucks. But now our beloved Gaiety is selling some of its tickets at hundred rupees. UTBT was always expensive but now they have marked up prices by 15% citing inflation in food prices as their alibi. Inflation indeed..
You could argue that if prices were not raised businesses wouldn’t be able to make profits , you could say that inflation in raw materials might force companies to raise their prices anyway – these would be perfectly reasonable arguments, IF not for the presence of the Max orange stick. Unlike almost any other product I have bought, the price of the Max orange stick ( now known as Paddle Pop ) has NEVER changed. I remember buying this ice-cream as a 7 year old kid for Rs 5. Almost 10 years down it still costs exactly the same. And it’s not as if the orange stick has not been affected by competition - Amul, cream-bell and some other companies have all tried to sell rip-offs but these duplicates met with no success. Not once has the price of the orange stick changed. And mind you it’s easily the best ice-cream in the world. It does not have milk or chocolate like most other ice-creams and contains nothing but water and some orange flavoring, but it tastes absolutely brilliant. But sadly this amazing ice-cream is becoming rare, the reason – inflation in pocket money. Children tend to believe that the more expensive the ice-cream, the better it tastes, hence ice-creams like feast and choco-bar are becoming really popular. This sadly means that the 5 Rupee Max ice-cream will eventually disappear from grocery stores…