Thursday, May 20, 2010

Mammoth service.

`I flicked through the latest copy of readers digest to read my favourite regulars. I was pleasantly surprised to see the dignified face of a familiar middle aged flower seller smiling at me.

On the eve of May day , she figured in a write up on labourers.

In the evening I visited the temple. I walked a few paces from the entrance to buy flowers from that seller. I congratulated her on her international fame. She was bewildered and as I explained on, she acknowledged her sudden global recognition by bowing humbly in the direction of the deity.

With a twinge of sadness, she recounted her arduous journey in life . She was orphaned young , and was married off to a penniless leper by her relatives and she begged on the streets along with him . Then she switched over to selling flowers ,and her husband died soon after,leaving her issueless.She adopted as her own 3 children she found abandoned on the streets.

She has built a brisk business , primarily I guess due to her knack of talking soothingly and kindly to every one of her customers, old and new.She would often sell a length of braided jasmine at a higher price, than of those selling them near my house, citing excuses that it was a Friday or as it was some festival or the other the next day the price of flowers had shot up in the wholesale market !On several occasions I got to know about the impending festivals, from her!

Though always wrested worse in the bargaining bouts I could never get myself to buy flowers from several other sellers clamouring for my attention nearby.

She continued relating her story. She had sent these children to school and two of them were now studying in nursing and engineering college! That she had to pay Rs 35,000 and Rs4o,000[ phew] respectively as fees this year ,plus provide them with clothing and books and also pay her house rent of Rs2000 per month as well as pay for her food purchased from outside as also for her daily dose of medicines, a boxful! A ll these expenses are met by selling a basket of flowers! Rain or shine ,each and every day of her life.I doubt whether she has stashed away any sum for herself for her old age.

Now I know why I never had the heart to switch her for another and am glad I didn't . I was in a way , contributing my mite to her mammoth service.

She requested a copy of the magazine so that her son may read about her . I promised to give her the magazine in my next trip to the temple.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Rank .

Though most visually impaired youngsters are of the opinion that people with orthopaedic disabilities are worse off than themselves , a middle aged blind woman who is a teacher, rubbished their views saying ,that they were not mature enough and were not aware of the realities of life.

According to her mentally retarded persons[mrp] are worse off and have the unenviable position of being first in the table of disability followed by the visually impaired . Ortho's and others come lower down in the scale ,that means ,others are better off !

She reiterated that whilst every other handicapped person can find some means or the other to support themselves , take decisions and lead an independent life the mrp's are condemned to a life time of dependency . It starts from the cradle and ends in the grave.

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Jurisdiction.


The territorial jurisdiction of courts of law are clearly enunciated in the constitution and in statutory laws.In the daily course of life ,I have come to know that an unwritten jurisdiction as sacrosanct as those of courts of justices exist and it is diligently followed and enforced with fervour and ardour that not only equals but at times also surpasses the written codes!

1.Flower sellers near temples.Their encroached space at the entry point is guarded ferociously and fie on those who dare set their foot in that holy strip.That prime space near the gateway enjoys hereditary rights and succession is usually matrilineal ,i.e.it passes from mothers to daughters!

2.Beggars near temples.That dusty and dirty bit of road is clearly marked as to who will lord over it . Transgression brings quick retribution .The other day I witnessed an argument between two grey haired beggars, over a piece of the cake [ road]. The woman lost her patience and threw water from a sachet on the rival claimants face . The dazed man gathered his wits soon enough, to pull out a bottle of water from his satchel [ which was well stocked in anticipation of the long day of work { begging } ahead ]and was about to pour it on her head when other beggars intervened, and held a panchayat on the spot itself to settle the jurisdictional matter! Abuses and curses rent the air drowning the mantras wafting out of the temple and the prayers of the devout.

3. Mobile press [iron] wallahas are the sole rulers of the street they have staked .They have the monopoly of collecting clothes and press them from the houses lining that street.They will stick to their street and will never venture into the next nor will they tolerate encroachment into their fiefdom from others.

4.Domestic workers .Servant maids corner households and if her services are terminated only a brave and bold woman can take her place . She must be thick skinned to weather the nonstop taunts and verbal abuses that would be hurled at her from the dismissed one!

5.Cable connection providers. They have never heard of monopoly trade practises restrictive laws.Their jurisdiction encompasses an entire locality.The consumers are totally at their mercy . They can never change their cable man .He is once and for all .

6.Mobile as well as stationery, vegetable , fruit , tender coconut vendors reign supreme in clearly demarcated boundaries ,and any overlapping is remedied postehaste.

Men like dhobhis, cable man etc stick to their territorial jurisdiction more religiously than women . Their area of operation is clear cut and will never overlap . It is simply not done . Could it be the fear of swift and violent retribution at the slightest transgression ?