Fiercely Independent

Every Saturday, as a general practice in the name of god, i have a meal just once a day.

Saturday evenings are meant to have snacks and with this, gives an opportunity to explore different joints selling something veggie
For this VV puram, near Sajjan Rao circle has been my favourite venue since I was 14 years old. This is one famous road, that has so many roadside carts, shops…. that sell variety of foods, from puttu, puligare, bajji, obbattu, badam milk, dosa, idli…. Akki roti, just name it and you have it.
Over the years, each time I have visited I have observed that the road has gone thru its changes. Some cart guys just vanished, while some cart guys are now shop owners. New shops have come up and variety too, many competitors have grown and the place now is extremely crowded on a Saturday that I visit.
Since my last 3 odd visits, I have observed a couple, may be in their 70’s have set up their cart. During the 1st visit, they were only selling a few fried items, like chakli, nippotu. Very few or no customers were going to them and the man used to just sit on the platform unable to stand. This time when I visited, they had started few more things like behl puri, tomato slice, mango mix…. They had come up with some quickies which was now beginning to sell quiet fast. The old man seemed more energetic, grating the carrots and cutting the tomatoes at jiffy speed and his wife was equally quick taking orders. I could see a spark in their eyes even at that age.
Something that said they wanted to be fiercely independent whether it was at their will or the society had caused grief. But their faces just beamed with will power to face anything. It surely requires lot of energy and will power to stand that long on the road and cater to customers. I felt a lot of positive energy when I saw them and in that sheer feeling ended up eating a bhel puri and a tomato slice… and had a filling Saturday snack

Hats off to that couple!!!!!