Wednesday, September 07, 2005

Vegetablewallah


Vegetablewallah
Originally uploaded by gopoo.
I have a weakness for green vegetables.And I prefer to buy them myself.Not that I am a great expert or a great bargainer but it is an old habit.And as they say old habits die hard.In my youngdays,I used to accompany my Mother for vegetable shopping to Lake Market in Kolkata and quite often to the Park Circus market.I like the smell of the vegetable market,the early morning activity when fresh vegetables arrive from the rural areas and the efficiency with which they are unloaded and displayed for sale.Recently I was asking a friend of mine abour the Lake Market.He said that I would not be able to recognise it.The old one has been demolished and a huge supermarket is coming up at the same place.Maybe in one of my next visits to Kolkata I will visit the Lake Market to see it in its new avatar.Later when we moved to Mumbai,I would visit the Byculla Market for wholesale purchases of vegetables.That has now been shifted to Navi Mumbai.The Fort Market is still there.That is where I shop for vegetables these days.I buy in the Bombay Gymkhana shop too.But then I don't feel like letting down my vegetablewallah.I normally buy once a week.And he is delighted to see me.And S picks up some greens en route home once or twice a week.That takes care of our weekly requirements.And if I feel like having fresh soup of onion bulbs or spinach and plenty of salad,I drop in to a 'galli' near the Fort market and buy the stuff in a jiffy while returning home.And the guy whom I have pictured gives me the best stuff that he has.His day ends on a pleasant note and so does mine.

8 comments:

lulu said...

now i know from where i get my weakness for vegetable markets! h finds it quite amusing that i get so excited about vegetables of all things in the world!

gs said...

you are close to the grassroots when you get so excited about vegetables.in life,that is very important.be rooted to the basics.you will be a happy person.

rums said...

uncle as a kid, when i visited my grandmom in hazaribagh, she would take me to her vegetable patch in the morning to pick vegetables for the day.
vegetables that are cooked fresh from the garden taste amazing, somehow, i have never experienced that taste in vegetables from the markets.

gs said...

i can't agree more rums.when we lived in chembur for a few years,we grew vegetables in our kitchen garden and they would taste absolutely great.no chemicals only organic manure and fertilisers.

maya said...
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maya said...
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maya said...

I wish we had vegetablewallas at hand here.....in the safeways and Vons here - there's no one to say things like "how come all your tomatos look tired" or " don't you have fresh peas?" it's pretty solitary - you pick, you bag and you pay....no exchange of opinions either....see gs I finally did post a comment!

gs said...

mayuuuuuuuuuuuu!
i was quite disappointed when you had commented that this post has been removed by the author.which i had not done.and that comment came again.i was going to set the record right when your third attempt seems to have succeeeded.thanks for visiting my blog and commenting.now you will be one more motivation for me to regularly post on my blog.and i will look forward to your candid comments.