Visit the market near you and you’ll get more than just vegetables-- a short briefing on war and international relations and how those falling missiles are making prices rise in the market near you. Suddenly, every onion, every egg, every packet of milk is soaring height on the wave of Iran-Israel, US conflict. But the connection is not entirely made up, and we all know about it by now. The war has disrupted traffic of oil shipments, spiking crude prices and choking LNG supplies. India, which imports most of its energy, now faces higher transport costs, fertiliser shortage and a weaker Rupee. Domestic as well as commercial gas cylinders have become a prized possession and their blackmarketing has also begun. With this, restaurants have hiked prices and menus have also become slimmer. Economists warn that this inflation could undo years of careful monetary control. But here’s where satire meets seriousness: Why is chicken that does not come to the market on a visa suddenly geopolitically sensitive? Why does spinach grown in a farm near the city need a foreign policy briefing?

 

Somewhere along the way, the war became the perfect plank for some to mint money. Sellers discovered that blaming global conflict is far more convincing and convenient than admitting to opportunism. After all, who can argue with “international tensions”? The absurdity is hard to miss. The vegetable vendor has become a geopolitical analyst, the butcher a defense strategist and the dairy vendor a trade economist. Every price tag now comes with a free lecture on Middle Eastern politics. Yet, beneath the humor lies a sobering reality: Inflation is real and, also, profiteering thrives in its shadow. This is the ‘war excuse economy’.

 

Genuine costs ripple through supply chains but opportunistic hikes piggyback on headlines. The consumer is left wondering: Am I paying for oil shocks or for the creativity of local sellers who have found a convenient excuse? And so, in 2026, the true superpower isn’t America or Iran - it is the neighborhood vendor who can turn a distant war into the reason your onions cost more. The world burns, oil flows choke and somewhere in Nagpur, a sabziwala smiles knowingly: “War chal raha hai na…” By Manshi Jaiswal