Life of a Gajara vendor: Not a rosy picture
“At 22 I had a husband, steady income and a home today I have nothing.” Nagamma, 41, is a Gajara vendor. As she makes colourful strings of flowers she speaks of the days when she wore Gajara instead of selling them.
Nagamma is one of the many ladies who sell Gajaras outside the temples of Kanjeepuram. Her day starts at three in the morning with a four kilometre walk to the flower market. She lives in the slums of Chiina Kanjeepuram, where she has rented a shack. She said she can not afford to buy back her house which her late husband made because of the menial income. Her only son left her after completing his schooling, for which Nagamma took loans from her brothers.
In the flower market she picks through flowers, “these are most expensive. Rs25 for 100 roses” she says and picks a Kg of Arali for Rs 20. She said she could not afford roses because Arali can bear heat better also rose Gajaras sell for the same cost as Arali ones. She earns Rs.90 to 120 a day out of which Rs.60 are kept asidefor buying flowers the next day. With an earning of thirty Rupees, Nagamma barely sustains herself.
