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Tuesday, Jun 10, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

The price people pay for eating out

Bachelors, the elderly and daily-wage labourers are struggling to come to terms with skyrocketing food costs, say Vidya Venkat and Shruti Krishnan

Photo: M. Vedhan.

affordable option Even white-collar employees find roadside eateries easier on the pocket

There’s no such thing as a cheap meal these days. With inflation nudging past the 8 per cent mark, people are confronting this unpalatable economic truth on a daily basis, especially those who have no choice but to eat out. Bachelors, elderly c ouples and daily-wage labourers are all struggling to come to terms with the higher prices they have to shell out for meals.

Mohammed Raafi, who eats his meals at hotels in Triplicane where he lives, has seen his food bill go up from Rs. 1,700 to Rs. 2,700 in the last three months. For this courier firm employee, the increase amounts to one-sixth of his monthly pay of Rs. 6,000.

This unforeseen rise in expenses is eating into his savings and he has not been able to send money home to his family of late.

Bachelors, who have been hit especially hard, now say that a major chunk of their earnings goes towards paying for meals. Raja J.S, an IT company employee, says he spends most of his money on food.

They say that after the government intervened to reduce the prices of staple food items in hotels, a few hotels did comply, but reduced the quantity. The amount of kootu (vegetable with dal) and poriyal (dry vegetable) served with meals was lesser now, they complained.

“Hotels have become miserly with second helpings too,” according to Mr. Raafi.

Mukesh Jayaram, a software engineer, is feeling the pinch as well, though he is from a higher income group. He recently received an e-mail announcing a revision of food prices in the office canteen. This was the second revision in six months.

To save money, he has started eating breakfast and dinner at a ‘thattukadai’ or road-side eatery. “There’s not much difference in the quality of food, but even the roadside vendor is talking about hiking prices,” says Mr. Jayaram. However, he has decided to stick to the roadside eatery as his options are limited.

At the end of the day, people who regularly eat out have no choice but to put up with higher prices and smaller portions. Arun Kumar, who eats at a hotel in Perambur, says that sambar is being served in smaller bowls. The hotel had kept the price and quality the same, but reduced the serving.

Thomas Tharu, a sixty-year-old pensioner in Adyar, says that the Udipi hotel where he eats has revised its rates. “A meal which cost me Rs. 20 earlier is now priced at Rs. 25,” he complains.

Homeless people who depend on hotels for food say prices are becoming unaffordable. B. Bhavani, who makes her home on the pavement on N.S.C. Bose Road, says she spent Rs. 100 on food a day a year ago. “Now, a single meal costs Rs.70 for my family of four.” She says that their income is only around Rs. 160 a day. The arithmetic is simple: the family cannot afford three square meals a day.

For daily wage labourers like Bhavani, time spent on cooking means an opportunity to earn lost. “I wait for my husband to return at night, because it’s only then that we have enough money to buy food.” She says she could wait for left-over food served after midnight by hotels, which would save her some money. “But my children become restless and I have to buy food from a hotel though it is expensive.”

S. Seethalakshmi, an 80-year-old, gets her food from a hotel in Adyar, because she is on medication and has to eat on time. She lives alone; both her sons are abroad. Though she doesn’t mind paying more for her food, she says she has noticed that the portions, especially vegetables, are getting smaller. She doesn’t want to switch to a cheaper hotel because she is used to the food. People like her have to put up with arbitrary changes in the menu and the prices, because they really don’t have any choice.

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