Mother and son sway crowds with organic pulses

On the fourth of every month, the quiet Vivekanandapuram First Street at Arya Gowda Road bustles with activity from 8.30 am onwards.

CHENNAI: On the fourth of every month, the quiet Vivekanandapuram First Street at Arya Gowda Road bustles with activity from 8.30 am onwards. There are apartments on both sides of the road, and a crowd outside one of them — Guha Apartment. Walk closer, and you will realise that they are customers purchasing pulses and lentils from a mother and a son.

“We have been setting up our makeshift shop here for the past three years, on the fourth of every month, without fail,” says J Jagannathan.

 Customers making their monthly
purchase |Photos: Ashwin Prasath

The family is based in Sanjeevarayapuram, Vellore, and for generations, they have been selling pulses and lentils. Jagan and his mother Vanitha, usually set up their shop in the city, but for the past few months, owing to her health, he has been bringing along helpers. “We were spotted by one of our customers who asked to set a shop outside this flat here, and we have been doing so,” he says.

Jagan and his team bring sacks of pulses from Koli Hills and they claim that it is chemical free. Currently, they sell all kinds of lentils, appalam, tamarind, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, mustard and such. “We sell about a sack full of our items whenever we come here. On receiving requests from customers, we bring in what they want. Since they are all unadulterated, if there are any complaints from customers we take it back, no questions asked, and we compensate them for it,” he says.

The vendors were spotted at Mahadevan Street in West Mambalam by S Murali and his wife Meena Murali. Every time the vendors are in town, the sexagenarian couple spends the day with them to supervise the sales. “These days everything is adulterated. In shops, products are sealed and sold to us, and we don’t know how pure they are. There are markets nearby, but not all of us can go there. So, my husband decided to bring in these people especially for senior citizens,” says Meena, who is also a regular customer.

All the supplies are measured by ‘padi’ (unit of measuring).  Word of mouth has increased their sales. “We initially had only 30 customers, but now we have people from all over T Nagar who come here to purchase from them. Our idea was to promote someone who is doing something honestly,” she shares adding that the only rule is that the customers will have to bring their own bags. “We want to reduce the use of plastic. Though all products are wrapped in a plastic cover, we don’t want to promote it further. We plan on asking them to wrap the pulses in paper,” says Meena.

While Jagan fears that the general stores and vendors from markets in Mambalam may create problems, Meena assures that they are in no trouble. “My husband has been here for the past 68 years. He knows everyone here and they wouldn’t question what he is doing,” she asserts.

Recently, they also started selling millets, ragi, semiya, fryums, and soya balls. “They bring in what a customer needs. Apart from pulses, they also bring in oil made in chekku, which is again unadulterated. Maybe from next month, we will ask them to sell rice too,” she says.

Jagannathan sets his shop outside Guha Apartments on the fourth of every month in Vivekanandapuram First Street (Opp Sivanmalai Andavar stores), Arya Gowda Road. For details call: 9786534716, 9751003421

Related Stories

No stories found.
The New Indian Express
www.newindianexpress.com