Cutting corners is a way of life now.

HOW HAVE the escalating prices of essential commodities made life more difficult for the aam aadmi who gave the Congress a thumping mandate earlier this year? To find out, meet the family of Dinesh Jain, who owns a restaurant and lives in Wazir Nagar, Kotla Mubarakpur.

" Almost every other item in the market has become more expensive," complained Mamta Jain, who runs a large household with five children. " In the winter, we have to shell out extra money on fruits, and if we go by the market trends, they too won't get any cheaper," Mamta said. " It's getting increasingly difficult to provide a balanced diet to the children." Concurred Sunil, the eldest of the five siblings, who is an IT professional. Flour prices, he pointed out, had shot up from Rs 14 to Rs 20 a kg in a matter of weeks, seriously affecting the family budget. " The market rates for common vegetables such as onion and potato have seen a steep hike. For a large family, it means seriously cutting corners," he said, adding that the price spiral had hit at a time when salaries remained frozen because of the economic slowdown.

The recent increases in Metro and bus fares have added to the family's cup of woes.

" These days we try to finish our work in a single trip," he said. In an effort to save money, the family has decided to call off its plan to go on a pilgrimage.

" We cannot afford to cut on the quality of education for my siblings, so we try to trim other expenses," Sunil said. " Earlier, we used to take out the car almost regularly, but these days we use it only to attend special events." Three of his siblings are studying -- Disha is pursuing her Masters; Nikita is in Class XII and Shubham in Class VIII. The other earning member of the family is Pooja, Sunil's younger sister, who works in Mumbai. " I live close to my college, so the daily commute doesn't pinch me, but my friends who come from afar keep complaining about the fares," Disha said.

The Jains insist the rising prices have hit what Disha calls the " quality of our lifestyle". As she put it, " I can't dream of spending money on even life's least expensive luxuries." For families such as the Jains, belttightening is the order of the day.

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