In November 2015, the Indian national press was agog over the criminal price of dal (lentils). The government’s 5.5 per cent inflation rate somehow didn’t square with the 105 per cent spike in the store price of three staple dals, on top of an already prohibitive price tag slapped on in previous years. December came. Nothing changed. Paying a king’s ransom for dal became the status quo for families habituated to shelling out 60-70 per cent of their monthly incomes on basic food.
Dharavi. Photo: Neville Sukhia; Image courtesy of The Indecisive Chicken.
