Along the vast lanes of ICF, there are many hawkers with bags of ice apples (nungu) till noon, while other vendors set up stalls under the shade for muskmelon, watermelon, and sugar cane juice to beat the heat.
Women from Arakkonam say they wake up before dawn to carry the nungu from farms directly and they will switch back to farming after summer. “We leave home to collect nungu near palm trees in our area around 3 a.m., and we get the train by 7 a.m. to reach here. We started doing this 10 years ago when a bag of nungu was sold for ₹10,” says Santha, one of the vendors.
“Our business primarily lasts 35-40 days,” says Ganga Gowri. She mentions how the palm trees saved her life. “Sometimes, our climbers fall from the trees while plucking nungu. One should also pluck only with a sharp knife. After this summer, we will go back to farming, or other daily-wage work. Despite challenges, we enjoy this business of all,” she adds.
Similarly, other summer fruit shops adapt themselves to the changing seasons. Across the road from the ice apple vendors is a muskmelon cart with mixers under the shade, a family-owned business.
Speaking about their plans once the summer fruits stop coming in, Kameshwari says, “After summer, we will start with corn and root vegetable stalls. We are happy that passers-by pause for a moment to enjoy our muskmelon juice. We go to the Koyambedu market around 4 a.m. to purchase all our fruits and set up our stalls by 7 a.m. Our family has been doing this for about 10 years and we keep our stalls throughout the year; we always have some seasonal fruits to sell to our customers.”
Straight out of farms
A few steps away stands Muthukumar from Retteri. He handles a sugar cane juice cart. “I will go back to the shops to stitch umbrellas and raincoats when the monsoon is nearing,” he says.
Under the shade of the Loco Bridge, Sekhar and Lalitha, an elderly couple, have set up their stall selling seasonal fruits. “We bring muskmelon and watermelon from Koyambedu or directly from farms at Tindivanam. We also sell nungu and sugar cane juice in the summer,” they say.
Lalitha adds that they engage in a business that fits most with the changing seasons. “Our children and grandchildren have settled elsewhere, and this fruit business is our greatest joy,” says Sekhar.
“Since we source from farms directly, our muskmelon and other fruits are much cheaper than those at many other stalls. Many new customers become regulars because of our affordable prices as well as high-quality produce. Only through these businesses were we able to marry off all our children and even support our grand-children’s education,” adds Sekhar.
