The rain has been a bit of a dampener this week, otherwise business booms during mango season. In fact, it’s the season where I do the most business, often earning tens of thousands of rupees a day. The people of the city have a fondness for mangoes, particularly the local Kotturkonam variety, which is sweet and fibrous and has a distinct nadan taste. They tend to splurge on mangoes. Of course, it helps that I have parked myself on the highway near Chakka. I have been here for a month now. Few can resist the sight of golden mangoes on display and I get a steady stream of customers.
Apart from Kotturkonam, these days, several other varieties of mango such as Sindooram, Neelan, Kallama, Panchavarnam, Sapota, Banganapally and so on also have many takers. Sindooram tastes much like Kotturkonam but is smaller in size. Most of the mangoes on display here have been sourced locally – I take the help of a few people who go door to door, within the city and its suburbs, to buy the mangoes. Most of the rest of the stock comes from Kayamkulam and other nearby places.
Usually, I have to re-stock every couple of days. But as I said, the rain has played havoc on sales this week. I have to sell off whatever is on display, which amounts to Rs. 30,000 worth of stock, in the next few days. If not, the mangoes will go rotten. So I have to be at work early morning till sundown, come rain or shine. There is not even a tarpaulin to protect me from the elements. But I am used to it now, for I have been an itinerant seller of seasonal fruits for the past 20 years. I like to sell one type of fruit at a time, simply because it’s a formula that has worked for me. When mango season is over, there is orange and apple season to look forward to. Grapes sell too, but not as much as the others.
I am 44 years old and I sort of fell into selling fruit due to certain circumstances. But I am a firm believer that if we work hard, we can achieve anything. I lead a comfortable life with this job. I have a wife and three kids to support at home in Chalai. But I don’t want my children to follow in my footsteps. They should study and get steady jobs. I am facing all this difficulty just so they can have a better life.
(A weekly column on the men and women who make Thiruvananthapuram)
