Rani, the flower vendor.

During the exploration of Professions, we got an opportunity to interact with Rani, the flower vendor who sells flowers outside the temple nearby. We would see each other every week and would acknowledge each other during out ground trips. Everybody was interested in knowing her own story. This was a bilingual live station. She spoke in Telagu, we got to hear in English, thanks to Shyamala.

She shared so many things about her business…

– how her husband is her partner in her business

– that he goes to the city market @ 4 am daily

– that he brings the daily fresh produce and then she takes over.

– she sells flowers and garlands in her tiny shop from 7 am till 9 pm

– both, she and her husband work late till 12-12:30 in the night.

– they study other flower vendors and observe their designs, then they try and make it themselves and if they are happy with how it looks, then they make it for the customers.

– they supply flowers to 10 houses every day

– they also supply flowers for marriages and other functions.

– they do not bring flowers which perish in few hours.

Then she shared her struggles in her work. She shared that few flowers are peculiar. If you handle these variety of flowers, the body heat increases. It needs a lot of practice and training to get used to handling these flowers.

Meeting Rani was like looking at an ice-berg.

What we saw about her was only a fraction of the whole picture. The real understanding began with interacting with her.


Tags: