Alekhya Yeluri

                                          Earth Laughs In Flowers
         
                 Flowers always intrigued me.  Lucky for me, my mothers’ hobby was gardening!  And there have always been early mornings when she would drag me straight from my bed to show me a blossomed flower which was a little bud the before night. The joy was abundant!  I decided to do my study on the tiniest beauty ever created for two reasons. First, life cycle of the flower is quite short and I wanted to understand how quickly the words ’profit’ and ‘loss’ change every day. Second, how flowers with no materialistic or resale value impact people.

Sun – My friend…My foe:

                   My first encounter was a two feet wide flower stand. The blue plastic cover was barely enough to cover the sun. I walked by as a customer and as I started bargaining the owner slashed his prices from fourteen rupees to eight rupees for a handful of flowers. As surprised as I was, I started talking to him! He introduced himself as Venkatachalam and was quite fluent in English. As a failed farmer and with just Rs. 500 as an initial investment three years ago, he built the flower stand with his own hands. His day would start on a bus ride to Chengalpattu costing him Rs.50 (to and fro charges) he would buy around two to three kilos of only one kind of flower costing around Rs.150-Rs.200 respectively. His wife would help him by making the traditional ‘Mala’ and they start selling them from 4 pm till 10pm. As the flower dies in just a day, his price varies with time and every day brings him a new profit or loss. He gets a daily profit of around Rs.100 barely enough to help ends meet. With two daughters and a loan amount of Rs 1000 he sits and wonders if his stall will ever take a turn. He placed himself at the corner of the temple hoping for better business and wonder why people will not buy from him just because there is a difference of mere two rupees when they bargain. He shows me a bundle of dead flowers and says the same sun which is a friend turns a foe at the end! But he still wants to continue this profession because he believes that ever flower gives him hope. And then I bid a bye without bargaining for the very first time in my life!

                                     

I Represent Life: 

        And then I searched for a slightly bigger version of a flower stand and was happy that I found a shop which mainly focuses on selling flowers but also sells other goods that are associated with religion such as turmeric powder, camphor, and coconuts etc. Closely situated to the temple, the owner Mr.Chari was filled with pride when he told me that he took over the shop from his father and the shop is almost fifteen years old. He had his network established and would get different flowers from different places around. He buys almost 20 to 30 kgs every day and gets a profit ranging from Rs. 600 – Rs. 800. Other monthly investments include buying rope, decorative sticks, thread, and different leaves for beautification. He would have the raw flowers door delivered and recruited two people to make sure the garlands are ready by evening. He is also a flower decorator and caters to many functions and confidently says “I can do any job related to flowers, flowers are a part of every occasion from birth to death”. His prices depend on the occasion and range from Rs. 2000 to Rs.15000 with a profit of Rs. 500 – Rs. 3000 respectively. His wife plays a vital role in the business and has a great eye in creating designs with flowers. After spending almost two hours with this lovely family and trying my hand in making a garland I return back with lingering memories.

                                  But there was this one thing that stuck my chord in the entire trip, in conversation with Mr.Chari he said “Flowers represent life, the little you live, live it beautifully”. As for me, I have decided never to bargain for the gift of nature!