Train-ing days are back again

Inflation affects you in more ways than you can think of. Ask 28-year-old Soumendra Nath Ray, an IIM-A graduate, who works with a leading consultancy.

Inflation affects you in more ways than you can think of. Ask 28-year-old Soumendra Nath Ray, an IIM-A graduate, who works with a leading consultancy.

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Ray is on the verge of breaking up with his Mumbai-based girlfriend. He has cut down on their ‘dates’ with air fares soaring high. Before the hike, Ray would meet her every weekend. But now, it’s not even once a month.

“It’s simple logic — our dates are inversely proportional to the fares. Travel by train is not feasible, as I have to be back within the weekend,” says Ray.

For Dilip Singh, a resident of Kaushambi, Ghaziabad the hike in air fares could not have happened at a worse time. He has just won a gift voucher for a free stay in a five-star hotel anywhere in India.

“We are out of budget after Diwali shopping, so we will use the voucher without spending extra. We don’t want to waste the voucher, so we would stay in a hotel somewhere around Noida or Delhi,” says Singh with a grin. There is no choice: the voucher has to be used before November 15.