At a conference of senior state officials our most revered Prime Minister, Mr. Singh said, " Whatever be the couse, the fact remains that inflation is something which needs to be tackled with great urgency." He went on to say that inflation affected the poor " disproportionately harder." He then pontificated on the evils of corruption saying that this would affect growth. Food inflation is running at 17% while the Wholesale Price Index rose by 8.43%. Inflation, especially food inflation hits the poor very hard but its effect on the middle class is no less severe. In 2000 one year's fees at a leading Delhi school was Rs. 15500, today the same school costs Rs. 60000, a rise of 400% or 40% per year. Apartments in Delhi that cost Rs. 3.5 million in 2001 can fetch Rs. 20 million today, a rise of 600% or 60% per year. This astronomical rise in property prices has led to a jump in rents. Erratic electricity supply means that we have to buy inverters or generators so that children can study. Scanty water supply needs storage tanks at ground level with a pump to raise water to a roof top tank. Water purifiers can cost between Rs. 600-15000. High price of petrol and poor roads, which necessitate driving in low gears, raise transport costs. Massive loot of money at the Commonwealth Games are being paid for by increasing taxes leading to rising costs of everything from electricity to water to beer. Thus middle class people have to pay more not only for food but for corruption and poor services while being treated with disdain by criminal politicians because they do not constitute the " vote bank." Apologies for lecturing the world famous economist.