Tell me a better
hands-on experience than going to buy vegetables along with your parents I’ll
wait. It’s like entering a battleground with the strongest warrior beside you,
for me most of the time it was my mother.
Dandeli’s Market is
active on Sunday’s hence it’s called Sunday Market. Every Sunday you can find most
of the people from Dandeli there searching for fresh vegetables. All the
villagers sit there with their fresh vegetables in that soft and diffuse
sunlight with large tarpaulins protecting them from the sunlight which is tied
to a pole present at the center of the market and the market is all colorful
with these plastic tarpaulins of vivid colors providing shade to each and every vegetable
vendor sitting over there. That Sunday morning had its own symphony filled
with “Aloo bees(20) rupay kilo bees rupay bees rupay bees rupay” that always
reminds me of my teacher’s who always shouted at us saying “Is this a fish market” whenever they
found our class making noise and we all used to laugh and hiss. Everyone in the
market was mostly in pairs, it was either a Father-Daughter pair or the
Mother-Son pair. The Parent's primary aim of bringing their children to the market
is to show us how to pick perfect vegetables and I am sure everyone has gone
through this phase unless and until your parents are “Big Basket” users. Our
parents like the perfect guru’s show us which vegetable to pick and which one
you shouldn’t along with some tricks. You know what, their true patience is
reflected when even after teaching you how to pick vegetables hundred’s of times
and yet you pick the wrong one and put it in the basket, they are like “Baccha
, Good! well done you are learning” but back of their mind they are pissed and
when you are not looking they exchange the
one’s you picked with the good ones and I was no exception to such a situation.
I have disappointed my parents so many times that they take me to market only
to carry the heavy bags.
So my Sundays started
with my Aayi (mom) sprinkling water on my face to wake me up followed by
dragging a sleepy innocent boy like me to market. The only good thing about
going to the market with my Aayi was Choc-bar after all the shopping she would buy
me Choc-bar which was our secret which we hid from my brother. In my childhood, I
had read about Ramesh and Suresh having 50 Apples and 60 Mangoes and I always
wondered how did they even finish eating them and at the same time I wanted to
meet them badly, I was fortunate enough to have finally met them in the
market. Aayi has two rules for vegetable shopping first one is carrying two
bags one for delicate vegetables like tomato, green vegetables and another one
for the hard ones like kaanda(Onion), batata(Potato) and the second rule is
to always have chilre(change). With all the rules ticked, we were ready to start
our search for vegetables of superior quality. But before we could even start
there’s this creature that always pops up from nowhere and it is none other
than your mom’s friend whenever you go to the market you always find them. You
see it’s fine if they talk but taking time to talk within which you could have
finished shopping now that’s bad, especially when you are standing there under
the scorching heat of the sun and watching two ladies discuss a daily soap that
ended on a cliffhanger last night as if it were freaking Game of Thrones.
Finally, they realize the main purpose of being here in the first place and bid
adieu to each other. So it was shopping time now and the very first question
that the vegetable vendor gets “Dada Bhindi kithi la (Brother how much for
Okra)” and he replies “Vaini arda kilo la 25 aani 1 kilo la 40(sister-in-law
it's 25 for half a kilo and 40 for 1 kg)”, isn’t it beautiful the way they give you
respect, but there’s one thing you have to notice it’s their business tactics
it is just at the level of Starbucks. Starbucks sells a small cup of Espresso
at 80 bucks whereas it sells a large at 90 bucks and I am damn sure you will go
for the later one, so the same goes with bhindi you are tempted to buy 1 kg and
that’s obvious when it comes to human psychology. There’s always this two to
three people my mother knows and she is their regular customer, she even remembers
where they sit in this crowded place. I have to appreciate her memory power and
then there’s me always forgetting the way to my classroom. So this two to three
people who Aayi goes to buy every Sunday are like messiahs. If you buy 1kg of
onions they add 3 more and sell it for the price of 1 Kg, same goes with all
the vegetables and you know what’s the biggest advantage of the open market
when compared to a supermarket that’s the free Pudina(Mint), Daniya(Coriander),
or Ginger you get when you buy a hefty amount of vegetables from a single
vendor. Aayi has certain tricks under her sleeve to pick vegetables which she
has taught me. It goes right from judging tomato by its color to breaking
bhindi's tip, God knows how many bhindi’s have faced my wrath and yet I have
always managed to pick the wrong ones even after breaking so many bhindi tips
and discriminating tomatoes by their color. The market is also that place which
shows your age is just a number and to never give up. There are people in their
old-age and differently-abled people sitting there selling vegetables and my
Aayi makes sure I go to them and buy something even if it’s of just a small
amount. Aayi was always like this trying to help people in one or the other
way. She always told me how she had spent her childhood in poverty and how we
should never forget from which stage of life we have reached here and I am sure
each and every parent has taught good things to their children based on their
past. After all this shopping, negotiating, and meeting Ramesh and Suresh Aayi
buys me Choco-bar for helping her carry the bag filled with vegetables and I
still remember how each bite of that bar satisfied my sweaty and heated body.
Nowadays Sundays are
meant for partying, trekking, binge-watching, and what not but back then this
was how a Sunday used to be at least for me. With everything around
digitalizing, we are probably going to order everything online. I write
this just to make everyone reminisce about their beautiful memories from the
past because with this video calls and all the eyes stuck to screens everywhere
we somewhere forgot to enjoy such little things. So sometimes take time to visit
the past that will bring the curve on your face which you have lost and it also
shows you who you really are.
Thank you
Darshan Shanbhag
Superb well said
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