'The Yam Tales' at Madiwala Market

Yam sellers at Madiwala Market, Bangalore.

              Early in the mornings, the busy streets of Bangalore are tired of the sounds of the cabs returning from the newly sprouted IT companies; bringing back home the techies who have worked throughout the night. Among these early morning busy schedule, there is a group of people who begin their day with determination and also hoping for a fresh and prosperous day.

             We can call them ‘yam experts’. Any root which would swell under the ground and would produce digestible substance, it becomes their priority. They know which soil in this part of the country will produce the best yams, in which season. They know, according to the seasons, which yam has the highest value.  Which yam has to be ordered for and which has to be placed on their cart in the mornings and in the evenings. They even like to suggest the recipe for the curry you may make from the yams you buy from them.  

             It is indeed a different experience interacting with them. In Bangalore, if you stand in a bus stop for more than ten minutes, on a fine Monday morning, you may meet three different kinds of people. The techies waiting for the Volvo, the school kids and college students waiting for a BMTC bus and these yam sellers who wait for that ‘particular’ bus in which they can load their flowers, vegetables, yams and fruits. Their whole agenda for the day is totally way out from what the rest of the city's plans.

          At the Market road in Madiwala, few yam sellers were observed loading their carts with yams. They were drafting the strategy for the day, it looked like. Got an opportunity to have a conversation with them.

        Asked about their daily routine, one of them smiles and says that it depends on which day of the week it is. If it is  a regular working day, he says, he would prefer to be near some of the schools in the mornings, so that he would be able to sell yams to mothers who just dropped their kids at school and are on their way home with a plan of preparing a good meal for lunch.  Evenings, he prefers to be around the factories where many ladies work, so that when they are returning  home after the day’s work, they would prefer to buy some yams to make a good dinner. He is also confident enough to say, that even on his way towards these popular points, he knows where to pause for a while.

Sugar Cane on Cart, Madiwala Market

             While commenting on the transport facilities they have, another one of them says, it is not like the earlier times. With the inclusion of luxurious transport system aimed at white collared professionals, he feels that he has very less options. It is indeed very difficult to bring into these areas our own products, because of the negligence of the public transport system. Thus they rely totally on what is being brought to the market by the private vehicles. So they begin their day’s business from the market. They buy those yams and sell them. He felt it would be better if they can find an alternative option of bringing their own cultivation to sell. Since they are involved in this particular cultivation, they prefer it in such a way.

            Feeling quite happy about what she does to earn for her family, the lady with her cart loaded with yams, feels that nowadays the number of women involved in selling yams, vegetables, fruits and flowers with carts have decreased; especially women of her age. One of the interesting reasons told by her for such a change in the city is that, she believes, are the newly mushrooming shopping malls. Many women feel that working in the malls are an easy option for them in the city than selling things on the road side. Very few women like her have taken up the option of coming early in the morning to one of the markets in the city and buying things for their selling. Others totally rely on what they cultivate at home and are happy enough to bring them to sell, in spite of the difficulties in transporting.  Whereas others prefer to take up some other business than taking up this hectic job of a 'caravan shop keeper'. I noticed that she had a mobile phone with her. May be, I hope some of these lady customers at home may give her a ring and ask her to come near their house. She mentioned that she prefers to follow the same route because of the regular customers she has earned through the past few months.

A fruit stall at Madiwala market, Bangalore.

               Another young man was just helping out his brother-in-law in his absence. When asked about what he feels about this temporary change for him, he says he does not like the work. He hates being on the road. He would prefer to be in a market and sell yams. He also mentioned, that like others he also comes and buys the yams at the market in the mornings for the selling, but he does not move around much. He just stays in the outskirts of the market, and feels even that is a good way of getting customers. Those who do not want to spend time in walking around the market prefer to buy whatever they want from people like him, who are in the outskirts of the market.

          Some of them are helped by the social service organizations in providing them the necessary capital and also the carts. Most of them do not willingly prefer to be mobile. They prefer to be static if they are given a choice. But still they are giving their best.

Garlands and Flowers at Madiwala market, Bangalore.