I? I am Achela. I came to Mumbai 20 years back. My father first started this business of selling lemons here. I don’t know when he came. My brother and I just took over what he started.
Ours is a joint family. We live in a small suburb beyond Orlem. We are five brothers in all. Three of us live together here in Mumbai. The other two brothers live in our village near Patna in Bihar.
I guess you could say I like doing this business. I have been doing it for so many years now. So I think I like what I do. I don’t know why but I have never thought about such things.
Yes, I am married and I have two children. They are still in school. My wife stays at home. She does not work. We do go to our home in our village every year in April after my children’s exams get over. My brother takes care of this shop when I am away and I take care of his shop when he takes a break.
We wake up at 5a.m. and go to Vashi first. We select good quality lemons, label them and ferry them to the truck. The truck owners charge us Rs.20/- per crate. No, they never pilfer our goods. We know that much. We buy 5 – 6 crates of lemons. It depends. Sometimes we do brisk business especially during the season. But if they are expensive we are not able to make all that much money. So depending on how many crates we are able to sell on any particular day, we buy additional crates the next day.
Hmm…there is nothing much to discuss about such things is there? Yes, all the vendors are struggling to do business now after the bridge collapsed on that fateful day. We are not allowed to set up any makeshift shops on the pavements till 8 p.m. But all the vendors do bring their vegetables regularly even today. They sell it to the vegetable stores in the main market in Malad for a small margin of profit. In case their goods remain unsold on any day, they wait till 8p.m. and then set up their stalls. Usually the municipal corporation vans leave by that time. They can’t do brisk business like before. Sometimes the municipal corporation takes away their entire sack of vegetables when they make surprise visits. So the vendors try to sell them as quickly as they can to the vegetable stalls. They don’t earn as much money as they used to anymore but they are able to survive.
Yes, all the people who buy my lemons pay me first and then take the lemons. Their requirements vary. Usually they buy 50 or 100 or 200 lemons and then sell them in their shops over the next few days. I am able to earn Rs.200/- to Rs.300/- almost every day. The amount varies depending on the season and the price. My brother comes here late in the night, takes the lemons that I could not sell here during the day and sells them in his shop in Nalasapora. The other two people you usually see around my shop are my younger brother and my father.
We return home at around 10a.m. from Vashi. We then have our bath, eat our lunch, come here at around 12 or 1p.m and wait for the trucks. I then sort out the lemons according to their sizes and segregate the raw ones from the ripe ones. We clean all the lemons in a pail of water. Only then do they look fresh.
People start visiting our store as soon as the crates are delivered to us. So we are busy after that. Whenever we get some time, we keep separating the lemons. By the time we reach home it is 11 and sometimes 12 in the night. That is nothing unusual about it. This is the life style of most vendors here. We have got used to it in all these years. It is a tedious monotonous job but we have to do it if we have to sustain ourselves no?
Savings? We don’t think of such things at all. My father brought us here when he was my age. He took care of us, introduced us to all his regular customers and taught us how to do business. We take care of him now that he has become old. So I guess my children will take care of me when I become old.
My brothers in the village? They grow wheat and other food crops. Their income depends on how well it has rained that year. Yes, they do grow a few vegetables also and they drive tractors too in other people’s farms. We all manage to make ends meet. That’s about it.
Yes, I’ll send you a couple of selfies and a few photos of my shop and the ones with the baskets of lemons too. But after 1p.m. only. Tomorrow not today. Pakka. Write about me if you want to. I don’t have any problems with it. I guess it helps you to pass your time fruitfully.
….And as I weave my way through the puddles and potholes of Malad and walk back home, the serene expression of my “Nimbu wale bhaiya” remains etched in my memory. Head bent down. Always quiet. Speaks only when necessary. No expectations. No demands. From anyone. At all. He does his work. Sorts out his lemons in all his free time. And knows the rest will take care of itself. No dreams. No ambitions. SO… SO….. Content with his lot. That’s when I realize that there is a lot I can learn from him….if only I was willing to do so….