Tamil Nadu   

‘Debt-free life remains a pipedream’

P.S. Gopalakrishnan

For 44 years, 65-year-old Trichur Killimangalam P.S. Gopalakrishnan, a vendor of roasted peanuts, and his ramshackle pushcart have been among the best known landmarks in this hill station. Their presence between 2 p.m. and 9 p.m. near the ‘way out’ gate of the Lawley Institute on the Government Botanical Garden Road, is not as conspicuous as their absence, according to the residents and many of the regular visitors.

However the price burden has put a question mark on their continuance.

Pointing out that it was for the first time he was coming across such an inflation, the ‘kadalaikaran’ as he is popularly known says that though the cost of inputs, particularly groundnut and accessories like kerosene, bought in the open market was steadily rising, “I will not compromise quality-wise or quantity-wise.”

Instead adjustments have been made on the domestic front.

Stating that eating out has become a thing of the past, he points out that hotels, which can give a dosa and a coffee for less than Rs. 25, are now in the minority.

With the cost of food items, including oil, going up almost every week, “we are forced to stretch rations,” he said and added that since the income was not commensurate with the expenditure, ‘only time can tell how long I will be around’.

He adds that even if the prices of essential commodities come down, they will remain out of reach for the economically weak. Consequently, leading a debt-free life will remain a pipedream.

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