At Chaya’s home, weekends were synonymous with non-vegetarian fare. It was a ritual of sorts for the 24-year-old’s father, Subodh, to go out and buy meat on Sundays. But all that changed a year ago. The family of four residing in Balanagar, Hyderabad, skip it as much as possible — to save money. They are mindful of how they spend every penny, and are focussed on repaying the loans that they took for Subodh’s COVID-19 treatment in May last year.
Subodh has recovered, but the family continues to battle the financial impact of the pandemic second wave. They had taken a loan of ₹5 lakh, of which ₹3 lakh is yet to be repaid. Not just that, they had mortgaged gold too.
