Stats and status

Sitting on the desk across from me, Ravi is feeding on the day’s newspaper. I have gone through four publications since the morning across various news domains, yet I playfully ask- ‘Ravi, what’s in the news today buddy?’ He turns his eyes from their keen fix on the paper towards me and replies, ‘I’ll tell you what’s in the news, Nalini. Inflation figures are reported at an all time low. And yesterday I went and bought a kg of rice for Rs. 32 when I used to purchase the same for Rs. 18 six months back, and it then used to be of a better quality. How am I to understand these figures the government reports and the papers publish to fool people like me?’

I try and shed light on the apparent statistical flaw. The weight of consumer product prices in the Inflation index is considerable small and that for industrial goods is high. Thereby as the steel, construction, real estate, metals, plastics prices have seen a large dip in prices over the last two quarters globally and consequently throughout the country as well, the same in being reflected in the inflation index. He however, is in no mood to listen.

'Nalini, I am living in a country whose polity is being headed by celebrated economists and I have to put up with these figures being tossed mockingly in my face from the newspapers everyday! I am being ripped off my insecure income everyday and the farmers are still poor. Where is all the money going?'

'Ravi, there is always a temporary gap in the prices settling down to match wages and salaries when they decrease. We are currently sailing through that temporary phase. We have to exhibit a little patience in confronting the current times. '

'Nalini, that doesn’t answer my question. Where is all the money going? '

I knew the answer and he knew it too. It was going to the middlemen and their corrupt bellies. It had always gone to them. I knew my economics. He knew it too. So does the surd with the blue pagdi at the top and so does his team. So did my grandfather and his father and his Prime ministers and their teams. But the fact remains, 60 years from Independence, the contemporary history of modern Indian economics that I studied is pretty much what my great grandfather studied. I guess Ravi is not entirely wrong in being angry.