Costly curries

One can live without the luxuries of life but living without items of daily use is practically impossible. Two meals a day require certain groceries; tomatoes, onion and potatoes are common ingredient of every curry in our cuisine. The unprecedented rise in the prices of groceries is the proverbial last straw on the camel's back.

How can a person with average income afford Rs300 per kg tomatoes, Rs250 per kg peas, and so on and so forth? The incumbent government's failure to maintain price control on vegetables alone is questionable – but who cares? People are starving now as affording two meals have become onerous for them. The opposition is doing politics for the survival of its leaders but not for the common man. Is there any way out?

Iftikhar Mirza

Islamabad