by B. R. GOWANI
- inflation gnawed at people’s purses
- poverty then gnawed at people’s lives
life has never been easy for the common folks
but the intense inflation, a global phenomenon, has affected them the most
particularly, the countries of the Global South (GS)
the average Indians are not in any better shape than their GS peers
Modi never tires of hugging his counterparts and getting photographed
he also loves billionaire businessmen such as Zuckerberg, Gates, etc
Manipur, state in the northeast, is burning, literally, but he has not visited
Prime Minister Modi doesn’t give a damn whether people survive or die
his or state ministers, who’re equally cruel & indifferent like him, take care
more correctly, they sprinkle salt on poor people’s wounds
in Dec. 2019, Nirmala Sitharaman had this to say about high onion price
(Sitharaman is Finance Minister in Narendra Modi’s government)
“I don’t eat much of onion-garlic. I come from such a family which doesn’t have much to do with onion.”
former finance minister P. Chidambaram sarcastically asked:
“The Finance Minister said yesterday that she doesn’t eat onions, so what does she eat? Does she eat avocado?”
(Sitharaman is an Iyengar Brahmin, the highest in the caste hierarchy
the Brahmins in the south and some other regions avoid onions and garlic
Jain nuns, monks, & some followers don’t eat onions/tomatoes/potatoes
some followers of Swaminarayan, a Hindu sect, avoid garlic and onions)
currently, the tomato prices in India are sky-high
(one kilogram = 2.205 pounds, that is, 6 to 8 medium sized tomatoes)
the money that bought 1 kg tomatoes a few months ago, now buys 1 tomato
Uttar Pradesh Minister of State for Women Development & Child Nutrition
Pratibha Shukla had this to say to the media:
“If tomatoes are expensive, people should grow them at home. If you stop eating tomatoes, the prices will inevitably come down. You can also eat lemon instead of tomato. If nobody is eating tomatoes, the prices will come down.”
many people in India have no homes
many live on streets or slums
people living in chawls have hardly room for tenants — forget tomatoes
one could go on …
Shukla says”
if you stop eating tomatoes, the prices will inevitably come down
probably other ministers will come up with their own solutions:
if pollutioni is bad for your health, please stop breathing
if clothes are unaffordable, go the natural way
if no access to clean water, please stop drinking
one could go on and on and on
B. R. Gowani can be reached at brgowani@hotmail.com