A man unaffected by surging prices

Kolkata: Price rise has hit all the shops selling kachoris or alu chops in the city, but not Lakshmi Narayan Ghosh of Manicktala. He has been continuing to sell chops and kachoris at Re 1 for the elders and only 50 paise for schoolchildren from his dingy dimly-lit shop located at Munshibazar area.

Ghosh has been in this business since 1994 and is unperturbed by the facelift of the shops selling similar products. "My USP has been keeping the price same. Even when the price of potato went up to Rs 20 per kg, the cost was the same here," Ghosh said.

Every day he comes at around 7 am in the morning and starts work that continues till 10 am in the morning. In the morning, his main customers are the schoolchildren who enjoy a square meal of four kachoris and sabzi at only Rs 2. A primary school of Kolkata Municipal Corporation is located at a stone's throw away from the shop.

In the afternoon he comes back at around 2:30 pm and starts making preparations. Sale begins from4 pm and continues till 8 pm. Alu chop, dal bora, singara and vegetable chop (winter only) are the things that he makes during evening and sells at Re 1 per piece. The price of a vegetable chop is a little higher.

"He hardly wears a shirt or a vest and he says that the heat from the earthen oven keeps him warm during his work. The quality may not be up to par with the renowned shops, but if you compare it to similar shops on footpaths, it is at par," said Susanta Biswas, a local resident.