The subzi wallah ( vegetable sellers) of Varah Ghat make a colorful sight in the bustle of Pushkar market. They sit on the road in the centre of the square and ply their ware; vegetables are arranged around them where they sit in the centre like queens and dispense food like the goddess Annapurna.
They make a fascinating and colorful target for foriegn tourists who are charmed by the color and and virbrancy of the market. Not only are the women weighing and selling vegetables, they are gossiping amongst themselves as well as keeping one eye out for roaming cows who will wait their chance to make a raid. They all have a stick for this purpose and will wave it at both cows and foreigners.
My favourite subzi wallah warrioress of Varah Ghat doesn’t always have the best range of vegetables but I don’t go to her for that so much as out of respect. She is the most fierce of all the subzi wallahs, she has not only a stick to use against tourists who are so rude as to shove a camera in her face and start snapping away. She also uses an umbrella and her veil to make sure no one takes a snap of her.
“If I went to their job and took photos of them, what then? “She asked me one day as I laughed at her avoidance techniques. She wouldn’t get past security, that’s what!
Since I like to follow the principles of Ayurvedic eating in my diet and anyway the food is always better cooked at home, this is where I buy my vegetables daily. For less than one american dollar I have the basic essentials for a delicious meal cooked with loving hands. One night as I am buying the vegetables for dinner, some local man at the same stall asked the subzi warrior queens, “Who is this foreigner buying subzi?”
“This is our sister,” said one of them. My heart swelled like a cauliflower at those words.