Onion at ₹80, Tomato at ₹120, Gas at ₹1,100 — The Indian Kitchen is on Fire

            <p>Walk into any sabzi mandi in India today and you'll see it on the faces of every housewife, every daily wage worker, every retired pensioner: <strong>shock, anger, and helplessness.</strong></p>
            <p>Onions at ₹80/kg. Tomatoes at ₹120/kg. A cylinder of cooking gas at ₹1,100. Atta at ₹45/kg. Daal at ₹180/kg. And the government says inflation is "under control."</p>

            <h2>The Real Numbers</h2>
            <p>The government's Consumer Price Index (CPI) says inflation is at 4.5%. But here's what CPI doesn't capture:</p>
            <ul>
                <li>Vegetable prices have risen <strong>67% in 2 years</strong></li>
                <li>Cooking oil is up <strong>45% since 2024</strong></li>
                <li>School fees have increased <strong>30-50% annually</strong> in private schools</li>
                <li>Rent in tier-2 cities has jumped <strong>25-35%</strong></li>
                <li>Medical costs have risen <strong>12% year-on-year</strong></li>
            </ul>
            <p>The "4.5% inflation" number is a statistical illusion. The lived reality is 15-20% for the average Indian household.</p>

            <h2>A Day in Sunita's Kitchen</h2>
            <p>Sunita Devi, 42, runs a household of 5 in Patna on her husband's salary of ₹22,000/month. Here's her monthly kitchen budget:</p>
            <ul>
                <li>Vegetables: ₹4,500 (was ₹2,800 two years ago)</li>
                <li>Cooking gas: ₹1,100 (was ₹500 in 2020)</li>
                <li>Groceries (atta, rice, daal, oil): ₹6,000 (was ₹4,000)</li>
                <li>Milk: ₹2,400 (was ₹1,800)</li>
            </ul>
            <p>Total: <strong>₹14,000/month on food alone</strong> — that's 63% of her husband's entire salary. "We've stopped eating fruit," she says. "Mangoes are a luxury now."</p>

            <h2>Who's Responsible?</h2>
            <p>The government blames "global factors" and "supply chain disruptions." But here's what they won't tell you:</p>
            <ol>
                <li>India is the world's largest producer of onions, tomatoes, and milk — supply isn't the issue</li>
                <li>Middlemen and cold storage cartels control prices, not farmers</li>
                <li>Fuel taxes (central + state) add 50-60% markup to every item that needs transportation</li>
                <li>The farmer gets ₹8 for the onion you buy at ₹80</li>
            </ol>

            <blockquote>
                <p>"When a country that produces enough food to feed 1.4 billion people can't afford to eat, the problem isn't production — it's politics." — CJP Editorial</p>
            </blockquote>