Streets a microcosm of India

The products available on the streets of India are indicative of festivals and seasons ahead. Right now in Hyderabad, as the temperature soars and the sun bakes the asphalt, there are a lot of vendors selling coconut water. It is amazing to see the trucks and autos dropping off this thirst-quencher at the various carts. The fruit is tossed from the truck into the waiting hands of the vendor and his helpers and soon there is a mountain of this fruit lying on the side of the road. These are then placed neatly on the cart and the wait for customers begins.

One of these stalls is just outside the gate of my apartment building and initially I was worried about the mess that would not be cleared. However, the place is kept clean and every day the municipal truck arrives to clear the coconut shells.

Then there are the fruit sellers who set up their stalls or carts at strategic points to catch the most customers. The symmetric heaps of different coloured fruit are eye-catching and there are always people stopping by to pick up their choice of fruit. These roadside stalls are so much more convenient than supermarkets or even grocery stores where one has to wait in line at the cashier’s. Sometimes the person in front of you forgets to get something weighed and has to go back to do the needful while you wait as the cashier cannot proceed with your bill until he finalises the other payment.

Fruits are a best-seller in India as they are indispensable during festivals and in the summer. Summer here seems to last around half the year. At least that’s how I feel. If you are a regular customer, some of these vendors will even cut the fruit for you. Cutting fruit like pineapples can be very uncomfortable as it’s like holding a hedgehog. That’s one of the things I loved about Dubai — the availability of fruit cut and sliced with none of the hassle of having to peel and deseed these yourself. Call me lazy but I like my creature comforts.

Another summer delight is sugar cane juice. It is very refreshing but if one is squeamish about the quality of water used to clean the glasses or the machine itself, it’s best to give this a miss. I think our immunity levels have dropped drastically because when we were young, we tried all kinds of foods sold on the roadside and survived.

In the evening, the flower sellers emerge. In South India, women love to wear flowers in their hair. Flowers are also in demand for festivals and the vendors enjoy brisk business.

With the onset of summer, the pavements are taken over by wickerware products. There are baskets and bags of all sizes as well as chairs and gliders and it is difficult to resist these. The haggling begins in right earnest and as the shopper strikes a bargain, he or she is left wondering why the vendor gave in so easily. However, when you calculate the cost of the raw material and the labour involved, you realise that the winner is the shopper.

In India, we rarely consider the hours of workmanship that go into the making of products. It is only when we go abroad and see the prices of handcrafted goods that we become more appreciative of labour-intensive work. I remember buying some hand-embroidered linen in a small village in Spain some years ago for what seemed a fortune in euros and thinking that I would have paid only a fraction of this back home.

In what passes for winter here, the blankets and woollen goods are laid out on the pavements. The vivid colours and the promise of warmth are enticing.

The streets of India are indeed a kaleidoscope of sights, sounds and smells that form the backdrop to scenes of perpetual activity.

Vanaja Rao is a freelance writer based in Hyderabad, India