In rupee freefall, middleclass families are the biggest losers

Bangalore: Surabhi Ojha and her mother Vineeta went out shopping to a Bangalore mall today. On their shopping list - snow boots and winter clothing. Considering that Surabhi is heading to Canada to study - one might think that shopping would be better done over there. But the family is trying to save everything it can - buying things in rupees will work out much cheaper than spending in dollars abroad.

18-year-old Surabhi will be studying economics at the University of Toronto. And her first lesson in economics is likely to be that the rupee currency can only stretch so far when converted into foreign currency. And so she will try to earn some money as she studies.

Surabhi told NDTV, "I don't want to pick up any job - but it has become slightly necessary. The University has this portal - if you want you can find out about these small jobs because they offer them to students."

Surabhi's father, Abhoy Ojha, is a professor at the Indian Institute of Management in Bangalore. He says the estimated annual costs of his daughter's education go up from around Rs 9 lakh to 12 lakh.

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Professor Ojha says, "When we started planning for her education and brought in Canada and US actively as options - the dollar was 50 rupees...We budgeted for 50 rupees. Today, it is 60 plus. In some sense my budget has gone off track by 20%."

Surabhi is very excited about studying abroad, and her doting father says cancelling the plan now is not an option.
"We had hoped that she would not have to work to support her extra expenses, but she has been talking about picking up some job on campus to kind of ease the burden on me," Mr Ojha says.

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A foreign degree from abroad for their child is a dream for several middleclass parents in the country, but the sliding rupee is making it pricier with a much greater strain on their budgets than anticipated.