A cinema outing, books, dreams of personal space – every joy, big and small, has to be put off, says a young social activist, in the face of inflation

Whether it is putting off an urgent surgery or making do with 250 gm of fish for her family of four once a month, Lakhya Saikia, like most other poorly-paid ASHA workers, has to balance her domestic budget with extreme care

We speak to a farmer family whose roots lie in rural Andhra, but have also spread to the cities – there is simply never enough money to get by