Getting by

By Godaya

I've been sort of on leave for two weeks. And an adventurous two weeks it has been. I've experienced everything from chasing behind lorries, to watching the most convincing non-kiss I've seen on stage (Royal Drama Comp, anyone?), to being asked stupid questions. And just like the rest of you, I've been hit with the increased cost of living.This is a retrospective analysis of sorts.

I have a small motorbike. It's called a Honda Chaly, and it's one of the coolest little runabouts one can have. I've been having it since I was twelve, and these things have a knack of growing on you. The fuel tank capacity of this is just over two litres. And last week, I ran out of petrol again, so I pushed the darned thing to the local filling station with a mere hundred bucks on me.

It was a grim reminder of how things are now, and how things were those days. Don't misunderstand me. Despite the idol-worshipping of the likes of Frank Sinatra and the B. J. Thomas, I'm quite young. Twenty two, to be exact. And even I can remember the days when I could pump a tank full of petrol (or in Godaya-speak, full-tank) for a mere fifty bucks. And here I was, unable to get even a litre of petrol. So I was mumbling “Seeyaka Gahanna,” and the pump attendant gave me the type of look a beggar gives these days if you give them a two-rupee coin.

Life is hard, and it's hard all around. Even at my tender (wait, who am I kidding) age of twenty two, I do three jobs, study, And do some freelance work on the side to earn a living. And I still borrow cash from my parents. Granted, I have the spend-every-single-note-that-you-have-in-your-wallet syndrome, and I have it bad, but still life is hard.I have this thing for chatting with (not chatting up, but chatting with) tuk-tuk drivers. And one of them told me just after the fuel price hike that he is not raising fares, as with a lot of other people at his tuk-tuk stand. Reason? If the fares are too high, people will refrain from using tuk-tuks. Which means no business. They'd rather have a small volume at a low profit, than no volume at a medium profit. Apparently the days of large volume have gone completely.

Be it an oversized Government, escalating world oil prices or even Global Warming (which seems to be responsible for most of the things that are going wrong), everyone needs to work extra hard to merely stay alive. And the horizon looks even gloomier.