SANATAN-- NEIGHBOURHOOD VEGETABLE VENDOR

Today’s morning visit to the daily market was for neem-buds after my friend Bharat Mishra's narration yesterday tantalised my taste-buds. Neem bud has been the season’s delicacy for us for years. I had been noticing its modest arrival for over a week in the market but it has been losing the race against jackfruit.

 I had opted for young green jackfruits on each of the three visits to the market in the last seven days. Green jackfruit has been our favourite for years. I could not have waited longer for jackfruits; they would have grown bigger and lost its appeal.

 This morning I bought enough of the buds from two vendors —one lot for us and the other for our housekeepers. Only after being armed with the buds did I go to Pitabas, the jackfruit seller, and bought again a young jackfruit. 

Let me go back to brinjal. The nice fruits had been arranged well; they were grown in the fields of a village on the Phulnakhara- Niali Road. Sanatan, the brinjal seller, and I talked and I had a glimpse of his kind heart. 

He had grown Raikia Beans in the small patch of land he owns. Now he has standing potato crops, the plants have grown well. He had  bought about 45 kgs of seeds worth Rs 980, had made good application of fertilizer and expects to harvest about six quintals of potatoes.

 “How much would you sell them for?” I asked. “I am too small to be a producer and make a living out of my production. I buy most of my food items—rice, dal and vegetables. I have four sisters and I would love to share the potatoes with them. The rest would be with us, to meet our requirement for some days”, he said smiling.

 He is married, he has two sons.” Are they big enough to go to school?” I asked. “The elder one is in the 4th standard and the younger in the 2nd, in the village convent school” he said, with a sense of benign pride.

 I bought a kilogram of brinjals. I paid him the quoted rate-- twenty five rupees. No wonder his parents named him Sanatan (Eternal) . He truly conveyed eternal virtues like kindness, sense of duty and love.

While leaving the market I overheard a vendor advising a customer the virtue of enjoying seasonal vegetables. “Have Bhindi and Brinjal now; after a few days you will have Parwal” he was telling his customer. 

I could not have agreed more. Odia culinary excellence shows in seasonal vegetables; its varietal richness has always impressed me. I wary at the increasing preference for perennials like chicken, egg , fish and paneer. Our restaurateurs should also revisit Odia kitchen and see opportunities in the seasonal over perennials.

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3rd March 2014