Are flowers really fragrant?

Scorpio707 · Mar 19, 2015

Jayasala Mam,

An insight of the reality faced by most of the flower vendors in our country.

Reading your post reminded me of the flower vendor from where I buy flowers twice/thrice a week. I don't bargain with them unless they are give into, not because I have too much money but always think these flowers are for god, and a few rupees that the vendor would be bargain from me won't pinch my pockets. I love my puja room to be adorned with flowers, enlightens my mood.

But yes sometimes it's sad to see when the family picks a fight, husband beating the wife in public, sometimes he is drunk too. Having said that just feel it's another profession just like the others, and there are pros and cons. There are "Sellers" and we the "Buyers".

satchitananda · Mar 24, 2015

Painful, harsh side of life. Anything one says out of sympathy can at best sound hollow.

jayasala42 · Mar 24, 2015

No word of sympathy can console such women in crisis. But somehow they get along without much complaint.

Jayasala 42

Arunarc · Mar 25, 2015

Hello Jayasala

Nice thoughts, to think about these small vendors. I feel it is the only source of living for them. If people like us buy flowers from them only then they food will be cooked at home. When people won't buy them they will have to throw away the dried flowers which is a loss for that vendor.
I always buy flowers when going to temple becoz that is the only way one can help these people.

jayasala42 · Mar 25, 2015

Thank you Madam,
I always have a soft corner to the traders dealing with perishable goods.That is why they fix a higher margin in early hours anf after a fixed time they reduce the price and are prepared to sell it at a loss, to exhaust the stock.They can make only mediocre profit. On many occasion we buy from them though unnecessary, just to keep their oven hot.

Jayasala 42

meenasankaran · Mar 25, 2015

How do the Shanthis of our world find the strength to put one foot in front of another each day? I guess they do what needs to be done to survive. My prayers for them to enjoy at least some rosy moments in their otherwise thorny lives. Very nice post Jaya Ma'm.

jayasala42 · Mar 25, 2015

Dear Meenasankaran,
Thank you very much for your response.True, such shanthis are the very incarnations of patience.They have no go but to get along.

Jayasala 42

Kamla · Mar 28, 2015

What a lovely snippet!

So nice of you to bring the lady who sells the fragrant flowers.

I also kept reading all the feed backs for this and it only shows that most of us feel softly towards people who really work hard for their daily bread and butter...on second thoughts, I may have to mention only bread. Sadly, that is the situation here.

Though our country has progressed by leaps and bounds, some spheres are left untouched. I wonder if ever the slums, the poverty and illiteracy will ever go away from our land?

How true it is that we never give a thought when bargaining with the vendors who come to our doors? I think along with so many other things, this too characterizes the early morning ritual in India!

Talking about this lady brings to mind my mother who started her day by buying flowers. This woman brought her basket full of flowers first to my mother asking her to make the 'boni'--be the first to buy for an auspicious start for her business. My mother looked like MSS with a big kumkum pottu and flowers on her hair..every single day!

I see my thoughts taking a flight and I am deviating! Just want to add this...though my mom didn't bargain, her flower-lady gave her an extra half a 'mozham' flowers for puja!! They were friends!

L, Kamla

jayasala42 · Mar 28, 2015

Dear Kamla,
Thank you for the feed back,
When we think of flowers our thoughts go back to our ammas with a big kunkuma pottu and a little bit of jasmine in her grey hair.Now a days there are never fading plastic flowers with drops of scents sprinkled then and there.My DIL , a Bharatha natyam dancer has varieties of plastic flowers brought from Shanthi Dresses Mylapore. From 2000 she was using the flowers for nearly 150 performances.
This year December season performance she purchased some 4 sets of flowers for nearly Rs 1000/-which may last for 10 more years.
Nothing equals natural flowers and their rich fragrance.
Shanthi, the flower vendor has cell phone, TV, necessarily a fridge to keep unsold flowers. But her life style and sufferings have never changed a bit.
Glad to know that the snippet had kindled nostalgia.

Jayasala 42

Jeeves · Dec 6, 2017

The fragrance may be represen

jayasala42 said: ↑

.Perched cross-legged on her wooden shelf-like stall, Shanthi eyes potential customers while her hands are in a hectic race to quickly string marigolds,jasmine, jathi and kadambam.She and her eldest son make at least 50 garlands a day -some cheap and some luxurious garlands for wedding receptions or popular netas.

Much before the sun rise ,they make a move to Koyampedu market to get flowers at the cheapest rate by auction.Sun or rain don't deter them from visiting the market.

She starts the preparations to sell her saffron-hued wares that will adorn a sacred idol, decorate a welcoming front door, grace a chief guest or garland the memory of a departed loved one.
A mother of four, Shanthi has been the sole breadwinner of her family ever since her husband fell critically ill soon after the marriage. While selling flowers may appear to be a rosy profession, the flower market is not gender-friendly in terms of sanitation or working facilities,Her hand smells fragrant while her hut is a mess with her husband's excretion smeared throughout.As she returns from her fragrant business, she has to keep her hands on the mess.

She has to grease the palm of a greedy policeman,answer to the terms of rowdy elements eyeing on her.Some pierce with their crooked glances from the opposite tea shop when she feeds her infant while sqatting on the floor.Sometimes her assessment of selling flowers during a pooja season falls flat and she has to keep bundles of flowers in the refrigerators of nearby customers very often incurring their displeasure. She is also concerned about countering the lean days - when Shanthi has to switch over to water melon, or cheap cool drinks business.

Except for regular temples, garland makers have no business in off seasons..
As darkness sets in, prices fall, they have to sell off the perishable goods a t the lowest price,than to dump it into garbage.

But it is ironic that the same flowers that add cheer and warmth in an upper class drawing room, only remind women like Shanthi that their lives haven't blossomed despite their handling beautiful buds and flowers. It is the fancy flower boutique owners with their high-end clients who are making the fast buck, not those turning out simple but auspicious garlands with their toil-worn hands.

When the flower vendor says that the flower costs Rs30 per muzham, we are forced to think that they are making a huge profit.Some pass a sarcastic remark" I am asking the price of flower and not that of gold or silver. But in reality, they spend their entire day time, mostly near a gutter, having no space to attend to nature's call-the nearby public toilets remaining totally unusable.

When we think of their pitiable state we don't have a mind to bargain.
The only solace now is the cell phone in her hands, which she often uses while stringing flowers.Gossip is their only relaxation and break from her 24 hrs duty.It is only fragrant outside, but their life smells nasty.

Daily while leaving the shop, she hangs three sampangi garlands of cheaper variety outside her shop,that can be used to revere the poor dead from nearby slums.If it is not utilised, the garland would adorn the Krishna doll in her shop.
"the garland may be utilised for my husband or me too -in the near future. She grins.My eyes get moistened.

I wonder whether their life is rosy ,though they handle baskets of roses?Do the flowers give any fragrance to their lives?

Jayasala 42
Click to expand...

Yes..a sad life ma

jayasala42 said: ↑

.Perched cross-legged on her wooden shelf-like stall, Shanthi eyes potential customers while her hands are in a hectic race to quickly string marigolds,jasmine, jathi and kadambam.She and her eldest son make at least 50 garlands a day -some cheap and some luxurious garlands for wedding receptions or popular netas.

Much before the sun rise ,they make a move to Koyampedu market to get flowers at the cheapest rate by auction.Sun or rain don't deter them from visiting the market.

She starts the preparations to sell her saffron-hued wares that will adorn a sacred idol, decorate a welcoming front door, grace a chief guest or garland the memory of a departed loved one.
A mother of four, Shanthi has been the sole breadwinner of her family ever since her husband fell critically ill soon after the marriage. While selling flowers may appear to be a rosy profession, the flower market is not gender-friendly in terms of sanitation or working facilities,Her hand smells fragrant while her hut is a mess with her husband's excretion smeared throughout.As she returns from her fragrant business, she has to keep her hands on the mess.

She has to grease the palm of a greedy policeman,answer to the terms of rowdy elements eyeing on her.Some pierce with their crooked glances from the opposite tea shop when she feeds her infant while sqatting on the floor.Sometimes her assessment of selling flowers during a pooja season falls flat and she has to keep bundles of flowers in the refrigerators of nearby customers very often incurring their displeasure. She is also concerned about countering the lean days - when Shanthi has to switch over to water melon, or cheap cool drinks business.

Except for regular temples, garland makers have no business in off seasons..
As darkness sets in, prices fall, they have to sell off the perishable goods a t the lowest price,than to dump it into garbage.

But it is ironic that the same flowers that add cheer and warmth in an upper class drawing room, only remind women like Shanthi that their lives haven't blossomed despite their handling beautiful buds and flowers. It is the fancy flower boutique owners with their high-end clients who are making the fast buck, not those turning out simple but auspicious garlands with their toil-worn hands.

When the flower vendor says that the flower costs Rs30 per muzham, we are forced to think that they are making a huge profit.Some pass a sarcastic remark" I am asking the price of flower and not that of gold or silver. But in reality, they spend their entire day time, mostly near a gutter, having no space to attend to nature's call-the nearby public toilets remaining totally unusable.

When we think of their pitiable state we don't have a mind to bargain.
The only solace now is the cell phone in her hands, which she often uses while stringing flowers.Gossip is their only relaxation and break from her 24 hrs duty.It is only fragrant outside, but their life smells nasty.

Daily while leaving the shop, she hangs three sampangi garlands of cheaper variety outside her shop,that can be used to revere the poor dead from nearby slums.If it is not utilised, the garland would adorn the Krishna doll in her shop.
"the garland may be utilised for my husband or me too -in the near future. She grins.My eyes get moistened.

I wonder whether their life is rosy ,though they handle baskets of roses?Do the flowers give any fragrance to their lives?

Jayasala 42
Click to expand...

Her

jayasala42 said: ↑

.Perched cross-legged on her wooden shelf-like stall, Shanthi eyes potential customers while her hands are in a hectic race to quickly string marigolds,jasmine, jathi and kadambam.She and her eldest son make at least 50 garlands a day -some cheap and some luxurious garlands for wedding receptions or popular netas.

Much before the sun rise ,they make a move to Koyampedu market to get flowers at the cheapest rate by auction.Sun or rain don't deter them from visiting the market.

She starts the preparations to sell her saffron-hued wares that will adorn a sacred idol, decorate a welcoming front door, grace a chief guest or garland the memory of a departed loved one.
A mother of four, Shanthi has been the sole breadwinner of her family ever since her husband fell critically ill soon after the marriage. While selling flowers may appear to be a rosy profession, the flower market is not gender-friendly in terms of sanitation or working facilities,Her hand smells fragrant while her hut is a mess with her husband's excretion smeared throughout.As she returns from her fragrant business, she has to keep her hands on the mess.

She has to grease the palm of a greedy policeman,answer to the terms of rowdy elements eyeing on her.Some pierce with their crooked glances from the opposite tea shop when she feeds her infant while sqatting on the floor.Sometimes her assessment of selling flowers during a pooja season falls flat and she has to keep bundles of flowers in the refrigerators of nearby customers very often incurring their displeasure. She is also concerned about countering the lean days - when Shanthi has to switch over to water melon, or cheap cool drinks business.

Except for regular temples, garland makers have no business in off seasons..
As darkness sets in, prices fall, they have to sell off the perishable goods a t the lowest price,than to dump it into garbage.

But it is ironic that the same flowers that add cheer and warmth in an upper class drawing room, only remind women like Shanthi that their lives haven't blossomed despite their handling beautiful buds and flowers. It is the fancy flower boutique owners with their high-end clients who are making the fast buck, not those turning out simple but auspicious garlands with their toil-worn hands.

When the flower vendor says that the flower costs Rs30 per muzham, we are forced to think that they are making a huge profit.Some pass a sarcastic remark" I am asking the price of flower and not that of gold or silver. But in reality, they spend their entire day time, mostly near a gutter, having no space to attend to nature's call-the nearby public toilets remaining totally unusable.

When we think of their pitiable state we don't have a mind to bargain.
The only solace now is the cell phone in her hands, which she often uses while stringing flowers.Gossip is their only relaxation and break from her 24 hrs duty.It is only fragrant outside, but their life smells nasty.

Daily while leaving the shop, she hangs three sampangi garlands of cheaper variety outside her shop,that can be used to revere the poor dead from nearby slums.If it is not utilised, the garland would adorn the Krishna doll in her shop.
"the garland may be utilised for my husband or me too -in the near future. She grins.My eyes get moistened.

I wonder whether their life is rosy ,though they handle baskets of roses?Do the flowers give any fragrance to their lives?

Jayasala 42
Click to expand...

de fragrant by the flowers she sells !
t