use strict;
use warnings;

my $current_index = 12;
my %columns = (
    'alpha'   => 1,
    'bravo'   => 2,
    'charlie' => 3,
    'delta'   => 4,
);

foreach my $k ( keys %columns ) {
    ( $current_index =~ $columns{$k} )
        ? print "$k matches\n"
        : print "$k does not match\n";
}

##</code><code>##

bravo matches
charlie does not match
delta does not match
alpha matches