vendors

I think it's a human trait to introduce an aesthetic appeal into the most mundane tasks imaginable. Surely, one would not think twice about the peanuts one purchases from the pushcart vendors, whose paper cones are getting so slender that they may accommodate only a few groundnuts. But the very selection of those recycled papers for the cones, and their arrangement, is so attractive visually...a fine example of art in commerce!

Christmas is over...spare a thought for those who sell knick-knacks like these cheap Santa caps, have so many of them left over...unsold, not putting even the meagre money in their pockets that they were hoping for. Street vendors are not like beggars; they are trying to make money honestly, and it is extremely hard at the bottom of the selling pyramid.

I found three street vendors selling honey "fresh from the hive"....they had large pieces of the hive on their two-wheelers, and promised to filter the "honey" through and put it in old mineral water bottles for those who wanted to buy it. The rate quoted was Rs.300 per kilo.     I took a taste of the honey, and it was suspiciously like jaggery syrup. I realized that these vendors were probably pouring the jaggery syrup over the hives and then selling it as "fresh" honey. Beware of such street vendors. Buy your honey from accredited outlets or buy good…

Recently, I had an occasion to travel on a couple of very long journeys (Bangalore to Guwahati and back, and Bangalore to Ahmedabad and back). The Indian Railways had just raised the price of all food and beverages sold on the trains. I'll take one example, where I found that vendors are resorting to unethical practices, and cheating passengers of their money. We were told that tea and coffee were now to cost Rs.10, and though we grumbled, there is really no alternative to the vendors on the train, and we paid up. We were surprised, the next day, to…