During the Mylapore Food walk, we were walking along a narrow street, more like those alleys you see in English Cop shows and movies. It was quite narrow, and there were bikes and cycles parked along one side of the road. The other side had vendors, most of who were gypsies, selling necklaces, earrings, bracelets made from beads of all possible colours. There was one woman bang opposite the Maami's Mess and there was a little girl beside her. They spoke in a funny language, which I assume is a tribal language.
Couple of us were standing around the stall, oggling at their wares, talking about how beautiful they were. We also tried striking a conversation with the lady, who mentioned the beads were sourced from Delhi & Agra and she sold the necklaces for Rs50-60 while few were bit higher. She mentioned how during the Mylapore festival, all the vendors are forced to move their display into these narrow lanes . Sometimes, we don't have any place and have to pack up, which means we go hungry for a few days. The little girl beside her was cute, and had a shy smile. When we pulled out our camera, the man in the next stall nudged her ahead asking her to smile for the camera.
I wondered how hard her life was. She was all of 7yrs old, and all she did was help her mom make these pieces and guard the stall when her mother went out or walked to the streets to sell some of these pieces. The woman asked if we wanted to buy anything, a few did. She was persistent, talking about how pure the stones and beads were, how she hand made them and that they were made with care and attention to detail. if she wasnt persistent, she would not be able to sell a thing. This was all she held onto to earn a living and care for her family. She also had a small boy sleeping behind her.
It is amazing the different kinds of people you meet right at your backyard!! Am submitting this for Salty Saturday theme from Chennai Bloggers Club!!
Next time you are in Mylapore, near the temple, do watch out for these women and buy something from them please!! :-)
The language they speak is Vagri boli which is a mixture of several languages. Gypsies always intrigue me and I have followed several research work done on them. They are called Roma in Europe. It is said that most gypsies trace their origin to India.
ReplyDeleteThere is a Roma film director named Tony Gatlif who has made lot of films on Roma. Do watch his films if you get a chance. Incidentally, Gatlif is also a Virgo like you. His birthday falls on the 10th of September.
Lovely post. Sorry if I ranted a lot.
Joy always,
Susan
Very interesting Susan.. Should dig in more on this and read up.. And no need to apologise, this is hardly a rant, this is insight :)
Deletecheers
aarti
Colourful captures!
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Colorful neckbeads. It's sad to see such people suffer so much to get their daily bread.
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