Just went down to buy some vegetables with my SO (for the newly initiated bloggers like me - SO means ‘significant other’). Suddenly halfway through weighing our eggplants the vendor lifted the weighing machine and ran, the co-vendor started mouthing aloud “no don’t panic, everyone calm down, and don’t run”. Looked around to see, and there they were, our brothers in khaki, looking as menacing as they do in bollywood movies. One of them came by and said the CI (I am assuming he was referring to the Circle Inspector) was on his way and the vendors had to shut shop.
What transpired thereon:
I pretended to be an innocent bystander, which I was.
SO protested saying that we had no vendors within the 200 acre township we stayed in.
Brother in khaki sarcastically suggested that we give the vendors a shop within the premises if that was the case.
Two minutes passed, an understanding was reached (did not see the negotiators), the brothers in khaki jumped back into their official blue jeep and sped away.
The vendors cribbed that they would have to pay a couple of thousand bucks, and they would need to take a collection.
I innocently enquired if all was well and would the brothers be back.
Vendor thought that maybe latter that night.
He said now that the warning had been issued, they would have to wait and see.
Would money work or would they have been assaulted and their carts damaged. Time will tell.
Read my blog for an update (if at all). Who cares what happens to vegetable vendors? Did you say? Meantime some poor vegetable vendor in Mumbai is waiting for dusk and our men in khaki to pay another visit.
4 comments:
This post reminds me of the massive drives that used to be on to get the roadside stalls demolished in Dadar and elsewhere..What mayhem..and the BMC would put the thelas away and the next day they would be back doing business like nothing happened...
Btw, I have read about BOs too..Was wondering why someone would call their spouse Body Odour when I realised it meant my Boring Other...Was about the wife not appreciating sports channels enough to let him watch IPL in peace..:)
i think the vendors shud just go to the BMC office and get a proper vendors licence, that way they will be saved from the trouble of paying the cops. what do u think ?
Some interesting information that I gathered from the net:
There are only 18,000 registered hawkers in Mumbai as against the present strength of hawkers of 1.5 lakh to 2 lakh (maybe more).
Proposed hawking zones are only 221with a capacity of 25,000 hawkers.
BMC has not registered new hawkers after 1978.
Mumbai can accommodate only a maximum of 75,000 hawkers as per Municipal Corporation.
For more information visit the following links: http://www.manushi-india.org/html_articles/the_first_all_india_jansunvayi_of_street_vendors.htm
http://www.nasvinet.org/current_events_detail.php?id=18
http://www.karmayog.com/hawkers/hawkerslaw.pdf
Yeah India shining or whatever. The farmers commit suicide, the hawkers are forced to close shop, the builders hasten us towards environmental calmity by dredging the silt at river beds. The mega mall and supermarket owners get richer and richer and we can't find quality produce or a nice variety of retail products as we trun into mall rats
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