Beyond the high-rises,
Beyond the boundaries
of stoic civilisation,
Away from the maddening
rat race,
Away from all the din of modernity,
lay a small patch of muddy land
with no trees- an open patch.
It lay still for all
but one day in the week;
and then for that one day,
this land comes alive
christens itself as the “mandi”,
and adorns itself with
hawkers and fruit sellers,
vegetable sellers and flower sellers.
And like the deluge, they come
the city people.
They walk through the pathways
between the heaped vegetable
Stop, stoop and pick up
the wares, to examine and
then bargain,
with their purses tightly clutched.
“Smell these fresh flowers”, the flower sellers scream.
“Will remind you of paradise”, one of them adds.
“Buy a few for your loved one”, another adds.
Each flower basket resplendent with myriad colours
of orange, white, red, and pink
“Fresh greens:”, the vegetable seller claims,
“Will make you strong”, one of them adds.
“Buy for your kids”, another adds.
“Three for One, One for Three”, they all shout,
inviting, luring and appealing.
Beads of sweat rolled down their foreheads,
Drops of fresh water being sprinkled on
their treasure, their torn vests declaring another story.
There are few women, with babies and kids
playing nearby; they scream too
and sometimes wait in silence, unable to compete.
“How much for this? How much for that?”
“Reduce a bit, let’s bargain”, says the buyer
“Oh didi, oh bhaiyya, we are poor and have to get by
Can’t go so low, so let’s agree to this”, says the seller.
They look at each other, the buyer and the seller,
and then nod their heads,
both happy, to have struck a good deal-
the same drama unfolding at every makeshift shop.
The land hears and listens
to the sounds, the cries, the buzz.
It smiles to itself, amused at the buyers and sellers.
It takes long breaths, enough to sustain
Itself for another week.
It takes in all the sights, all the scenes
for this is its lifeline- a reason to go on,
a reason to look towards hope,
for who knows when it will be killed
for the huge concrete buildings and the modernity?