| From
Tehelka Magazine, Vol 5, Issue 51, Dated Dec 27, 2008 |
|
| CURRENT
AFFAIRS |
|
hard times |
|
‘I have
never been to a cinema hall and now I don’t even have cable’
Raju Kumar Singh, 36
SECURITY GUARD
New Delhi
|
Photo
Kadambari Zacharia
|
AMITABH
BACHCHAN’S Sharaabi
was the last film teetotaler Raju Kumar Singh, an avid film viewer,
watched on his treasured LG colour
television
on November 30. A day later, Singh, a guard at a media company,
took several significant decisions. He packed off his wife and his
children, aged six and four, to his Bihar village indefinitely,
asked his two younger brothers (also security guards) to move into
his musky 9 by
15 square
feet room to split the rent, stopped drinking milk (something that
he loves), cut back on groceries and cut off his cable connection
(Rs 150). Singh does not know what recession means. But he explains
what drove him to these life-changing steps. “My company cut
the extra posts they had for guards and there was no scope for overtime
and earning a little extra,” he says. Singh used to earn Rs
2,000 a month in overtime. Today with awfully tight purse strings,
he hopes things will improve and he will get back to watching films,
drinking milk and saving for the motorbike he dreams about.
SHOBHITA NAITHANI |
| GROCERIES |
RS
700 PER MONTH |
Has
stopped buying milk (which he loved) and green vegetables. Cooks onions
and potatoes instead. Avoids tomatoes because they are costly |
| RENT |
RS 535 PER MONTH |
Rent used to
be Rs 1,600 before his brothers moved in. Now they split the amount |
CHILDREN’S
EDUCATION |
RS 200 PER MONTH |
His two children
get free government education. He spends Rs 50 per month for private
tuition, Rs 1,000 a year on books |
| UTILITIES |
RS 400 PER MONTH |
Raju pays Rs
300 for electricity. Telephone:
Rs 100. Used to spend Rs 250 on phone earlier. Used to call home twice
a week. Now only once |
| INVESTMENT |
RS 500 PER MONTH |
Raju keeps aside
this amount in his bank
account provided by the company. His savings have come down from Rs
1,200 in October |
| HEALTH |
RS 250 PER MONTH |
Raju’s
10-year-old daughter died last year
following high fever. With two other children, he knows health expenses
can come any day |
| CLOTHES |
RS 170 PER MONTH |
Raju shops at
the Saturday market near his
home once a year. He owns two sets of clothes. His wife owns two saris |
| EATING OUT |
RS 250 PER MONTH |
Raju has never
been to a restaurant. Twice a month he and his family used to go to
India Gate or Qutb Minar and eat snacks |
| LEISURE |
RS 100 PER MONTH |
Raju has never
been to a cinema hall. He spends Rs 100 on newspapers |
| COMMUTING |
RS 100 PER MONTH |
Raju rides ten
kilometeres to and from work on his cycle. These expenses come from
the inevitable wear and tear |
| Total:
Rs 3,205 per month |
WISHLIST:
MOTOR BIKE |
|
|
From
Tehelka Magazine, Vol 5, Issue 51, Dated Dec 27, 2008
|
|
|
| • |
The
End Of Indulgence
The
economic crisis is bringing back an old virtue. Thrift
Vijay Simha
Senior Editor |
| • |
‘I
have never been to a cinema hall and now I don’t even have
cable’
Raju
Kumar Singh,
36
SECURITY GUARD New Delhi |
| • |
‘I
love bags and shoes. I buy new ones every other week’
Sneha
Mokashi,
21
STUDENT Bangalore |
| • |
‘When
the tourists come to the valley I can ask my wife to cook mutton’
Bashir
Gosani,
36
TOUR GUIDE Srinagar |
| • |
‘I
have always lived as if there is a recession’
Mugdha
Godse,
26
MODEL/ACTOR
Mumbai |
| • |
‘Even
my juniors have big houses and swanky cars’
Sanjay
Bhoosreddy,
45
BUREAUCRAT Lucknow |
| • |
‘If
I could sell my 5 acres of land, I would’
Chikkegowda
SB, 65
FARMER Shanbognahalli, Karnataka |
| • |
‘You
get cautious. I used to buy design books, but now I visit design
sites online’
Baishakhee
Sengupta,
32
GRAPHIC DESIGNER, New Delhi |
| • |
‘I
would give up branded clothes if things get really rough’
Arjun
Sajnani,
62
RESTAURATEUR Bangalore |
| • |
‘Soon
we may not be able to buy firewood to cook our meals’
Kallu
Kachchap,
30
MASON Ranchi |
| • |
‘Some
might see it as turmoil. I saw recession as an opportunity’
Rahul
Tripuraneni,
28
EXECUTIVE Hyderabad |
| • |
‘I
don’t seek any man’s help. God helps me’
Dharvesh
Rashady,
43
IMAM Chennai |
| • |
‘The
only things I need to survive are cigarettes and mineral water’
Meraj
Nizami,
82
SUFI SINGER New Delhi |
| • |
‘I
could never give up being a mime artist’
Moinul
Haque,
40
MIME ARTIST Guwahati |
| |
‘The
only thing that has become cheaper is fuel’
Nisreen
Karachiwala,
21
PUBLIC RELATIONS EXECUTIVE Pune |
| • |
I can live on grass
Ram
Shankar, 43
GARDENER, Delhi (at Prime minister's office, South Block)
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