Balloon-seller’s lament in times of inflation

Like many other daily wage earners, Akhtar Hussain is finding it hard to run his house on a meagre earning

ISLAMABAD: In his eight years as a balloon-seller, Akhtar Hussain must have put smiles on countless children’s faces. In these times of ballooning inflation, however, he could use a reason to smile himself.

“My survival has become very difficult,” lamented Hussain. “I have six daughters and three sons. It is almost impossible for me to feed them, pay for their education and meet any health expenses.”

Hussain was not always a balloon-seller. The Abbotabad native once ran a tandoor. Deteriorating health, however, forced him to take up a less physically intensive trade and now, he sells balloons in any of Rawalpindi’s main market areas, like Adamjee Road, Haider Road, Bank Road, Kashmir Road and Cantt.

Not every day goes smoothly for Hussain. “I am often harassed, sometimes by cantonment board officials, other times by police,” he said. “There is no respite for a man trying to earn an honest living in this country,” he complained.

'Erasing the poor': Pakistanis feel crunch of rising prices

Describing his day, Hussain said he purchases uninflated balloons for anywhere between Rs3 to Rs20 apiece from wholesalers. “I fill them up with helium and sell one for Rs50 to 60,” he said. The balloon-seller added that not all of his customers are children. “People order my balloons for birthday parties, wedding functions or other big events.”

“After tirelessly selling balloons, I manage to make between Rs700 to Rs800 a day,” Hussain told The Express Tribune. “I use this money to both meet my home expenses and buy more balloons to sell. Rising inflation is making it increasingly difficult for me to balance my expenses,” he complained.

Hussain said it was about time the government did something for the voters that brought it to power. “People voted for those sitting in government because they sat in opposition in the past.

They now need to repay the favour and formulate policies that can offer relief to the public,” he said. Some bystanders looking on while The Express Tribune interviewed the balloon-seller agreed. “Sportspeople, artists, former and current leaders all get money from government just so they can keep increasing their valuable assets,” said one of them. “Those working hard to earn a living are ignored. The government needs to come up with a plan for daily wage earners,” he added. 

Published in The Express Tribune, May 19^th, 2019.