women in the bazaar

In October 2006, it was the Festival of lights all over the country. That Diwali, as in the Diwali the year before, there were more flowers in the bazaar than everyday. In Vizag or Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, there were marigolds everywhere. Poorna market and the Rama Talkies junction were crowded with people and with flowers. There were women selling flowers and women buying flowers. There were heaps of marigolds and strings of marigolds. Poorna market is primarily a fruit and vegetable market but had created spaces for flowers for the week of diwali. The visual landscape of Poorna market was different that week.

Vizag does not have an art plaza like the one outside the Jehangir Art Gallery at Kalaghoda in Bombay. But, Vizag, like every town in India, has a street bazaar. And, all of us go to the bazaar, whether we are art lovers or not. There is much to see. At diwali time, there were flowers here, crackers somewhere else. Only, each exhibit was on display for only one day. And, the exhibit diminished in size as the day moved on. Especially the flowers. The hands of the women sometimes created a new heap, sometimes emptied it in parts, sometimes wove the flowers into a string and at other times, separated the yellow from the orange.