Konkani Kesari » Flowers

Video: Weaving Jaaii Flowers

Arun Shanbhag — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 15:43:45 +0000

cross-posted from my post here.

During recent travels, I was visiting relatives in Honavar, Karnataka – a sleepy coastal town south of Kumta (see google map below). I had stopped by a family store to add money to my pre-paid cell phone. There, this older gentleman was weaving these delicate pink buds called jaaii-che kaLo. These buds only sprout after the monsoon rains (June – August), have a delicate fragrance and are highly sought after during the festival season in July-September. It was a simple, yet mesmerizingly beautiful weave and he agreed to let me record it on my flip video.

Based on a series of questions I ask him (on camera, in Konkani), he shows us a portion of the woven braid. All those buds will yield about 10 feet of braid and take him an hour to weave. Notice the thread, it is actually a fiber pulled from the bark of the banana tree and kept soaked in water. Very eco-friendly.

These braids will be sold in the marketplace (see Kumta marketplace) and usually end up in temples or family shrines. Women also use to decorate (and perfume) their hair. The market rate for these braids is about Rs50-Rs100/ft ($1-$2/ft), but can be significantly higher during the festival season. The beauty of the braids is in the buds; and once they bloom, the braids are considered done.

Here you see such Jaaii-kaLe braids offered to the Nag Devata at a small shrine in Kumta.

View Larger Map
Filed under: Flowers, Honavar, Karnataka, Konkani, Kumta, Video Tagged: Flowers, Honavar, Konkan, Konkani, Kumta, Rural India

Flower Sellers at the Ramnathi Temple, Goa

Arun Shanbhag — Wed, 19 May 2004 17:36:00 +0000

In March, I posted a photo essay on the Flower Sellers in Dadar. These beautiful people, with little material belongings, seemed so content with their lives. That left a lasting impression.

When I visited Goa, there too I was touched by the flower sellers. We had camped at the Ramnathi Temple, Ponda. After the main puja and aarti, the temple is closed and my family settled in for a nap. I picked up my camera and snuck out. The temple surroundings were nearly deserted but for a few flower women spread out along the corridors. During this lull in the day, they were preparing for the evening rush of devotees and weaving exquisite gajras and fragrant streamers. In this pic, one is using a plant fiber “vaayu” to weave the gajra. As with their colleagues in Mumbai, these flower sellers have so little to call their own, and yet seemed to lead so content lives. Smiling ever at all passersby. The next time you are outside a temple, pause, and buy a few flowers. You will make a bigger difference than giving to any charity. Enjoy these few images.

Dadar Flower Market – A Photo Essay

Arun Shanbhag — Thu, 18 Mar 2004 10:20:00 +0000

In our home in Colaba, the five day Ganapati celebration is the biggest family event of the year. Our entire joint family tries to come together making it very festive. Since we use a lot of flowers for the daily decorations, one of us has to go to the Dadar Flower Market every morning to buy flowers. After bringing them home, the women gather together and weave them into spectacular garlands and various other decorations. September 2002 was the last time I was home for Ganapati and one morning, I volunteered to go with my sister-in-law to the flower market. We took the train from Churchgate to Dadar and the flowers sellers are camped right outside the station under the bridge and packed into the nearby alleys. I mean, jam- packed – you move sideways leading with your shoulder, smile and squeeze your way forward.

There are flowers everywhere. Marigolds heaped on tarpaulins on the ground and sold by weight, champae in tiny baskets and sold by the number and delicately wrapped in broad leaves, the dazzling array of long streamers, as well as the colour co-ordinated gajras of mesmerizing blooms, the cacophony of the sellers and buyers screaming and jostling all contributed to a spectacular audio visual symphony. It was an exquisitely delightful experience, one that I am sure to revisit in the near future.

More than the colorful flowers, the smiles on the flower sellers stayed in my mind. From the woman sitting cross-legged on the ground weaving busily, to the young men weighing the flowers, the older gentleman convincing you to buy the garlands, to the young lady with matted hair selling fragrant lotuses – they all had beaming smiles on their faces.

They probably had to wakeup very, very early in the morning to be in a choice location to sell the flowers here (we got there around 7:00 am). Their sales probably determined what they ate for dinner, or if they went hungry. I would cringe whenever my sister-in-law bargained for a few rupees. I would nudge her, “just give her the money!” Many a times it appeared that their whole life belongings were right there in that little jholi by their feet, yet their grace and joy with the world came through loud and clear.

Whenever I complain about silly things, I think of these flower sellers and see how fortunate I am to have so much. Why then do I complain? Maybe more people in the world need to see these flower sellers and derive inspiration for their own lives. It is not how much wealth you have, it is your attitude towards life.

Seven more pictures