Inflation in the cost of votes

If you thought that the current round of inflation has distressed only the housewife and the daily wager, then you are sadly mistaken. As I have learnt through diligent questioning over the past fortnight, the price rise has hit all manner of persons in every strata of society.

“Oh indeed, yes,” asserted the road-building contractor working on one of Bangalore’s famous pot-holed pathways, “I am having a very difficult time managing to make ends meet these days with the prices shooting up.”

Nodding sympathetically I said, “ You must indeed be having your margins pared savagely by the rise in prices of sand, gravel, cement etc.” “No, no, that is not much of an issue,” he clarified. “We have material price escalation clauses in the contract to take care of that.”

“Oh, then what is the problem ?” I asked, a bit puzzled.

“It’s the sudden increase in the cuts we have to pay the municipal engineers,” explained the contractor.

A senior official of the municipal corporation first denied any extraction of cuts but when confronted by the contractor’s statement, he shrugged his shoulders and said plaintively, “What can we do? Our political masters are demanding a bigger slice of the pie."

A junior minister whom I had known for some time agreed that times were hard for everybody but pointed out that his Party needed more funds to combat the inflation. “How is your Party affected by the price rise?” I asked in all innocence. Looking at me pityingly he intoned. “My dear fellow, have you ever considered how much more costly it has become to get a vote? Previously all it cost us per voter was a few pegs of arrack, a saree and bus fare back to the village. Then the Tamilians upset the equation by offering mixies and grinders. Now we are facing a demand for washing machines, smartphones and TV sets, the prices of which have started going up due to inflation. How do you think we can afford to meet these rising costs?”

“By filling more potholes?” I suggested tentatively. “Exactly!” he concurred, patting me on the back.

It’s not just us ordinary Indians who are feeling the pinch of inflation. At a recent conference in Davos, Switzerland, where the global movers and shakers congregate, this bit of conversation was overheard:

“Hi Jeff ! How are things?”

“Bit dicey Elon. This global inflation is causing a hefty bump in kickbacks demanded by governments.”

“You’re telling me. Getting more and more difficult to make the next billion.”