Adilaxmi Vegetable Market

Every morning starts very early for us here at house 1-83/1 in Thirumalapur. We have to get the vegetables ready before the sun is even fully up so that people can buy what they need for their lunch. The market is basically just our space where we pile up the crates of tomatoes, onions, and whatever else is in season. You can find us in the Kuravi area, and most people around here know where we are. The air always smells like fresh coriander and damp earth from the sacks of potatoes. We spend a lot of time sorting through the greens to make sure we throw out the wilted parts. My hands are usually a bit stained from handling the vegetables all day, but that’s just how it goes. We use an old set of scales with the iron weights because they never fail, even if they look a bit rusty now. It gets quite loud and busy in the middle of the morning when everyone is out shopping. We don't have any big fancy signs or cooling systems, just some shade and a bit of water to keep the produce looking okay. Sometimes the supply from the farmers is a bit short, so we have to make do with what we can get. It’s a lot of lifting heavy bags and standing on our feet, but we like talking to the neighbors who stop by. We stay open until the crates are mostly empty.