Occupation:Street vendor of country produce
My mother Lalitha has been running this business in Statue junction for the last 25 years. Nowadays I accompany her. I do odd jobs for daily wages and on those days I can’t come with her. So sometimes it is just one of us.
We sell only country produce and most of it comes from Palode village. The common items are turmeric, wild turmeric, arrowroot, mango ginger and local mango varieties. We sell bilimbi(Pulinjikka) and Aana Pullinjikka fruits as well. Malabar tamarind (Kodampuli) is another product we sell.
The mango varieties we currently sell are Malgova and a dark green local variety that is perfect for making pullisseri. Kotturkonam and Kilichundan are also available. Occasionally we also get to sell sweet potatoes and Rose apple and pomelo fruit (kambili naranga) too. But we don’t get them in large quantities like other items.
Rare fruits
Rarest of all are soursop (Atha Chakka) and the wild jack-fruit variety called Ayani Chakka. It is hard to get those as no one is willing to climb up the huge trees to pluck them. But often people collect the fallen fruits. We don’t get much profit from selling them, but we still try to get it whenever we can.
Most of the items we sell like arrowroot and soursop are said to have high medicinal properties. Wild turmeric is another medicinal product. But, like soursop, it is becoming more and more difficult to get it.
We get two consignments a week of up to 10 kg, which the wholesalers will bring to the shop. If the business is normal, it will be over in three or four days. On good days we make up to ₹2000 but if the sales are dull, then it could as low as ₹80. If we are not able to sell all that we have, products like mangoes and soursop will rot which will result in even bigger losses. We open at around 8.30 am and is open till 7 pm.
I stopped my schooling in 9th grade and have been a daily wage worker since the age of 14. My wife, Lekshmi, is a homemaker and we live with my mother at Malayankeezhu.
(A weekly column on men and women who make Thiruvananthapuram what it is)
