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Live life king size

Affluence could not have come any closer to the middle class

Photo: Kamal Narang

Within reach Leading a high life is no more a distant dream

People hankering for highfalutin lifestyle couldn’t have asked for more. A sharp cutback in prices of consumer goods has cupidity for materialism reaching a crescendo. Leading a high life and enjoying simple luxuries is well within the reach of the middle class today.

Air travel was merely a flight of fancy for many in the past. But moving out of the realm of those who have money to burn, the facility has come within the reach of the not-so-wealthy sections. Companies like Spice Jet are busy targeting a whole new set of customers like young executives, students and small time businessmen. The Jet Airways, Kingfisher, Go Air and Deccan too are following suit. Ticket rates are slashed, sometimes even at the cost of a loss for the airlines.

Madhu is a young mother on her way to Delhi with a year-old baby tucked in her arms. “Travelling by train will take 20 hours and by the time I reach my destination, my son will drive me nuts. Flight journey will take me to my destination in a couple of hours and more importantly, with my sanity intact,” she chuckles. “Online booking of tickets well in advance is more economical than ever and so now I prefer to travel by air,” says Ahmed, a young banker.

Take for instance the case of mobile phones. Introduced in the market as a luxury statement for the affluent class, low cost classy handsets have reached the hands of even the dhobi in the street and the rickshaw-puller on the road.

“A mobile phone is a must have for every student and they have the option to choose between the good, better and the best packages offered by different companies,” says Ramcharan, an MBA student. A couple of private companies are charging mere 1 paisa for an SMS and 49 paise for a call.

Staying connected was never so easy. The low roaming charges or free incoming and SMSes offered by many companies have students frantically punching their cell pads.

Die-hard movie buffs need not shell out Rs. 100 for the pirated CDs that bring home, along with entertainment, a twinge of guilt. A private company fighting piracy is offering CD’s for just Rs. 28 each and a DVD for Rs. 38.

The price of a DVD, which hovered around Rs. 500 in the past, has dwindled to less than Rs. 50. The drastic slash in prices is a deliberate attempt to control piracy and also to build up a target customer bank that would opt for buying original CDs or DVDs.

Vijay, a young executive in a multinational company, stays glued to the office for long hours. “I now have a collection of about 100 DVDs and I have a choice of unwinding at home watching a latest flick rather than jostle for tickets at a cinema theatre”.

Laptops and PC’s too are within the reach of the average buyer making the Internet a common man’s tool. Srikanth, an MBA student, cannot take his eyes off his new laptop. “I thought that I could afford a laptop only when I started working. But the low price quoted by the company was within my budget and I can now do most of my project work on this,” he says pointing to his prized possession.

HARJEET KAUR ALLAGH

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