People - The Muslim Flower Seller
My home is in Parla, Mumbai. There is a street close to its railway station simply called 'parla market'. Market hosts many hawkers who over the years have sold some of the best produce in Mumbai. In front of a vey usual readymade clothes shop, a crowd is the usual sight. And the crowd is buying the best flowers in Parla; or for many the best till Dadar along the rail line, at the most proper price, sold by perhaps a very honorable seller.
And Mom always buys all the flowers from her, so does half of Parla, I guess by the ever present crowd. Come festive season and its a mini Dadar in a few square feet ( Dadar is one of the biggest flower marts in asia, belive me it is huge and to the word wholesale ) . Her establishment has everything a Hindu festival can ask for. Usually everything comes fresh and at a price which is lower than most ( personally verified ). Staffed by a bunch of what seems like her male relatives who look like thugs, and act likely while transacting when the lady of the shop remains away, seldom though. If at all she happens to notice that the guys have managed to rip some money off someone, she promptly makes it up in cash or quantity. Once she told my mom in fluent marathi "What to do, these men are always looking to cheat at the shop and at the house".
So I can declare easily it’s a good establishment run by a good manager which attracts repeat business with the guarantee of a good product at a good price.
So whats the big deal?a lot of small shops impart the warmth and guarantees that this lady has to offer. But there she said something special that compelled me to mention her.
Evening, Diwali in October 2008. I am home after many days and have accompanied mom as usual to the market to buy the usual tons of fruit and veggies she always buys (which I noticed do get over, Ok I am lazy to nourish myself I know). And since its festival time we have to go to the flower shop. There is only one. There are many, but only one that we will buy from.
A crowd is present, as usual. Mom asks for the 5 rupees bunch, she starts wrapping up many different varieties of flowers and leaves which will eventually be used in a pooja back home. “10” she says. “Why?” asks mom back . “Prices have increased” says the seasoned lady. She wears the usual salwar suit which distinctly identifies her faith. She is visibly tired and still glances at mom as if she knew mom or the many moms and aunts and dads or the hundreds of people who visit her shop. Mom asks her why she was looking so tired, didn’t she have anything to eat? (That’s classic mom, she is always enquiring about ‘her’ people ) And the reply “I have been standing here since morning, and when your customers are fasting, it is does not feel good to eat” she says nonchalantly, I might be suspect but mom believes it. I believe it later.
She had nothing more to sell than the usual bunch which cannot be bargained from her. She never fires the no good helpers who I guess are family. She keeps her shop respectfully unobtrusive to the shop in front of which she encroaches; which I suspect has let her flourish symbiotically, she dosent have to not eat. She does not fast this time of the year. She is a good seller. That’s it. The Muslim flower lady that’s the identity I have created for her. Do I come across such people everyday? Not many. Worth a mention though, read? I need feedback for…
My home is in Parla, Mumbai. There is a street close to its railway station simply called 'parla market'. Market hosts many hawkers who over the years have sold some of the best produce in Mumbai. In front of a vey usual readymade clothes shop, a crowd is the usual sight. And the crowd is buying the best flowers in Parla; or for many the best till Dadar along the rail line, at the most proper price, sold by perhaps a very honorable seller.
And Mom always buys all the flowers from her, so does half of Parla, I guess by the ever present crowd. Come festive season and its a mini Dadar in a few square feet ( Dadar is one of the biggest flower marts in asia, belive me it is huge and to the word wholesale ) . Her establishment has everything a Hindu festival can ask for. Usually everything comes fresh and at a price which is lower than most ( personally verified ). Staffed by a bunch of what seems like her male relatives who look like thugs, and act likely while transacting when the lady of the shop remains away, seldom though. If at all she happens to notice that the guys have managed to rip some money off someone, she promptly makes it up in cash or quantity. Once she told my mom in fluent marathi "What to do, these men are always looking to cheat at the shop and at the house".
So I can declare easily it’s a good establishment run by a good manager which attracts repeat business with the guarantee of a good product at a good price.
So whats the big deal?a lot of small shops impart the warmth and guarantees that this lady has to offer. But there she said something special that compelled me to mention her.
Evening, Diwali in October 2008. I am home after many days and have accompanied mom as usual to the market to buy the usual tons of fruit and veggies she always buys (which I noticed do get over, Ok I am lazy to nourish myself I know). And since its festival time we have to go to the flower shop. There is only one. There are many, but only one that we will buy from.
A crowd is present, as usual. Mom asks for the 5 rupees bunch, she starts wrapping up many different varieties of flowers and leaves which will eventually be used in a pooja back home. “10” she says. “Why?” asks mom back . “Prices have increased” says the seasoned lady. She wears the usual salwar suit which distinctly identifies her faith. She is visibly tired and still glances at mom as if she knew mom or the many moms and aunts and dads or the hundreds of people who visit her shop. Mom asks her why she was looking so tired, didn’t she have anything to eat? (That’s classic mom, she is always enquiring about ‘her’ people ) And the reply “I have been standing here since morning, and when your customers are fasting, it is does not feel good to eat” she says nonchalantly, I might be suspect but mom believes it. I believe it later.
She had nothing more to sell than the usual bunch which cannot be bargained from her. She never fires the no good helpers who I guess are family. She keeps her shop respectfully unobtrusive to the shop in front of which she encroaches; which I suspect has let her flourish symbiotically, she dosent have to not eat. She does not fast this time of the year. She is a good seller. That’s it. The Muslim flower lady that’s the identity I have created for her. Do I come across such people everyday? Not many. Worth a mention though, read? I need feedback for…
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