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Bells that beckon
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Sonpapdi and kulfi... these mouthwatering sweets still lure children and adults alike. But what about those people who make a living selling them?
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WHILE ONE sweats it out in the hot Sun, the other shivers his way through the cold night and though it is not a lot of fun, it takes care of them well. The sonpapdiwallah and the kulfiwallah bring excitement in neighbourhood, especially for children.
The Chennai version of sonpapdi and kulfi is not authentic and both look and taste different from the original. But who cares?
The scurrying feet of eager children follow the sound of the sonpapdiwallah's bell. The kids love this stuff.
"It is very sweet and I can never get tired of its taste," says 12-year-old Mahesh as he hurries towards the busy vendor. "Yummy!" is all that Vignesh can say in between mouthfuls of sonpapdi.
Though most parents refuse to buy eatables that are sold by street vendors, there are the more indulgent ones... and so business for the sonpapdiwallah is brisk.
Come nightfall and one can still hear the bell ringing. Now, it's the kulfiwallah making his rounds. Kulfi - a sweet that is said to have Mughal origins has over the years acquired a local flavour, especially in Chennai. Here, kulfi is prepared using an indigenous recipe.
"My family has been in this business for ages. This is how kulfi should be made and this is exactly how it should taste," argues Murugan, a kulfiwallah in T.Nagar.
Both kulfiwallahs and sonpapdiwallahs have planned sales strategies. They work in groups for unnamed organisations, owned by rich individuals.
The owner provides food and accommodation if necessary to the workers. The sweets are prepared in the owner's premises and distributed to all the workers. From then on, they go their separate ways and try to sell as much as they can. This can be tiring.
"My day begins at 5.00 a.m. I have to make my share of sonpapdi myself and this takes almost four hours. I return only at 9.00 p.m. after making a round of every street in a neighbourhood", says Hussain Shourie, a sonpapdiwallah in Besant Nagar.
It is not the long hours of work that is of concern but the meagre amount earned at the end of the day. And all of it goes to the owner. "I do not get any commission or incentive for the extra amount sold. I get only around Rs.1,000 for all the hard work every month".
But this is said without any regret. However, the kulfiwallahs have an easier time.
Their day begins at 2.00 p.m. and the sweet is prepared in three hours and is sold only after 7.00 p.m. Still, kulfiwallahs are rarely seen after 11.00 p.m. They also get around the same wage as the sonpapdiwallahs.
An interesting factor is that those who sell kulfi are mostly South Indians while the sonpapdiwallahs inevitably hail from the villages of Maharashtra. But, what the kulfiwallahs and sonpapdiwallahs share are the long stretches of the Marina and Elliots Beache and amusement parks where they sell their sweets.
"Business is good here as these places are frequented by a number of children," says Naveen Patnaik. "We get around Rs.80-90 a day while on weekends and holidays, we can earn as much as Rs.250".
Available at your doorstep, these sweets continue to enjoy good sales.
Perhaps they are the only items to remain untouched by inflation and the price hike.
D.PRAVIN
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