My house is on fire!

Dear Sir,

As I was sitting down to write to you, my servant Ramdayal came in with a painful expression carrying a small bundle of garlic bulbs (approx 250 gms) which cost him Rs 50 and had cost him Rs 35 just ten days back.

I looked at him and wondered aloud that it was fine for me, I could afford it, but how is the poor man going to survive this inflation. He broke into a grin and said Congress says that by 2020 ‘garibi hata denge’ (will remove poverty) and before I could burst into a cynical tirade of the improbability of this he continued jovially, haan sach hai, jab sab garib hi mar jayenge bhook se to garibi to hat hi jayegi na (it is true, if all the poor die of starvation there will be no poverty left, right?). He left the room grinning from ear to ear and I was left stunned, experiencing his pain at such close quarters.

And, this was not the first time. He has been harassing me over the last few months to eat less, to make only one veggie, to not make exotic veggies etc, and all because the market prices have gone crazy. We have had many a slanging match over him not preparing something I like and his incapacity to bear buying it at that cost, even though I am paying for it.

Sir, this one really hits home, not that the other issues are not eventually going to strike where it hurts, but this one is happening inside my house.

Sir, will you please do something about this at least or are you comfortable staying with the next Congress slogan of ‘Garib Hatao’?