Apartments, automobiles and aubergines

Apparently the market is on fire. Not literally of course but the prices of essential commodities are hotter than Hades on a mid-July day (one would be at odds to decide which sounds more frightening – my metaphor or the possible implications of how “hot” hot really is?).

Before this writer ventures any further, it would be best that he confess that he has no idea about the prices of everyday commodities – what’s more he never really ever did. So if someone were to tell me that onions are Tk. 40 per kilogram, I would be at a complete loss as to how to react – with relief or outrage? After all, is the Tk.40 per kg onion too hot to touch or worthy of an immediate buyout? You see, I just wouldn’t know!

This of course makes for very many awkward moments, so I have perfected my response timing to immediately parrot the exact words in surprise. Lo and behold the messenger takes the next obvious step forward and reacts for me. For example:

Messenger: Onions are Tk. 40 per kg.

Me (feigning surprise): Onions are Tk. 40 per kg!

Messenger: Would you believe that it’s gone up by Tk. 6 in two days!

Me: Gone up by Tk. 6 in two days!

Messenger: Yes, how is one going to keep food on the table this way?

Me: Keep food on the table!

Messenger (with a quizzically look):

Me (still surprised): !

You get my drift. The technique might not be perfection, but it seems to get me through the conversation without sounding like I am out of my depth.

I don’t mean to sound insensitive and oblivious to the rising prices in the market, after all, despite what the government is trying to feed us, prices are rising by the day. The point is that since I have never really shopped for groceries alone I have no benchmark to compare prices. Thankfully my mother and my wife, who actually do the shopping in my house, are not so oblivious.

Now there is much talk about syndicates and middlemen and hoarders, but these parasites are a symptom of societal degradation. Imagine twelve months ago, most of the people buying the big fish, the cow’s rump, etc., etc. were people who came easy into money – societal rules were simple – if you want the good things in life you’ve got to try living life the bad way. Simpletons, like us, who are stuck outside of the jails, obviously had it backwards, since we were living life in the good way, we were stuck with the bad things.

This is true for everything in this town. Apartments, jewelry, cars, are very expensive but the businessmen-crooks running these “syndicates” were reaping in with the big bucks. It staggers the mind how land prices have gone up 1000 folds in the span of a few years, when the per capita income could only slowly inch up in USD 10 increments (if even that much) over that same period. In a country that manages a per capita income of a measly USD 460, apartments (not houses, mind you) are being sold at almost 1000 times that amount!

Let me put in another way, in a country where the average monthly income for a family would be BDT 5,000 (actually half of that) we have select families opting to pay BDT 7,500 (or more) per square foot to purchase an apartment. Now I am no economist, but that doesn’t make sense. I am sure there are quite a few successful people around to flaunt that kind of money; but the question that begs to be asked is: successful in doing what? What kind of business or job brings that kind of profit? And how is it possible that there are so many avenues of accumulating such wealth that an entire real estate industry can be fed on the proceeds.

I mean, how is it that we can be outraged when onions cost 55 cents per kg, but not bat an eyelash because apartments in Gulshan are going “cheap” at USD 150,000?

Now if all these “successful” people had the key to great fortune in business, why suddenly is the real estate industry beginning to stagnate when they can no longer justify their tax returns?

With the real estate shudder, so has the streets of Dhaka cleared of H2 & H3 Hummers, Cadillac Escalades, Porsche Cheyenne SUVs, Mercedes S-classes, most of the BMW X5s. The “bold and the beautiful” have been reduced to riding “normal” reconditioned older luxury cars, or, shudder the thought, Toyotas!

I may not know the price of a head of cauliflower, but when it comes to cars I know my unit prices (out of sheer hobby interests, I assure you). And while a 100% premium on the price of $0.50 foreign candy bar may stand justification (if only as a decadent indulgence, considering onion prices), frankly, there is little to no justification to pay a 300% premium on a $90,000 luxury SUV! Especially when you account for the state of the roads we drive on and the odds on a scrape against a rickshaw.

Thankfully we are going through a cleansing process, and people are made to become more accountable. Whether the entrance of a higher degree of accountability will spell the exit of any degree of corruption and underhandedness, time will tell. Meanwhile, apartments, automobiles and aubergines will continue to defy the price tag, and unfortunately for me since apartments and automobiles is now passé, benchmarking the market prices for everyday commodities will continue to be a favorite pastime.