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My family and I were strolling along the narrow, crowded streets as the cool air nipped at our noses. Now, something you should know about my family is that we’re divided in two groups: the “see-everything” and the “experience-a-few things”. My dad and sister fall in the first category. They like to rush through everything get a brief overview, maybe a few pictures and then move on to the next thing. My mom and I on the other hand prefer to leisurely stroll, take lots of pictures, buy a few things, learn the history, and really experience the place, even if that means we won’t get to everything. We google the place before we get there, ask questions once we’re there, you know just try to really enjoy it. (We don’t do this for everything just for the few places we care about/are interested in.)
So as it happens, my dad and sister were rushing along having power walked way ahead of us, my mom and I on the other hand were chatting and slowly walking behind them, when a pair of earrings caught my eye. Naturally, my mom and I stopped by to look at them. My mom looked over and saw my dad and sister disappearing in the crowd, so she yelled out “Raj!” A voice behind her echoed, “RAJ!” We spun around and saw a woman in her late 50s smiling at us.
She was the owner of the stall that the eye-catching earrings were at. My dad and sister made their way back to us, as mom and I looked at all the beautiful jewelry she was selling. As I browsed, the older woman would pipe in with, “oh that would look beautiful on you!” or “what about this one, it’s very popular here, we’re famous for this style” or even “this one would look great with this outfit, and you could style it like this.” Soon I started picking out the earrings I liked, and her subtle but effective sales techniques worked flawlessly on me. One pair of earrings turned to two, then three, then seven.
I heard my dad snicker behind me, I spun around to see what he was finding so amusing when he told the stall owner, “You really are a wonderful saleswoman, you could sell anything.” She turned a shade of pink and thanked him. She said that she had been doing this for over twenty years and hearing this made her really happy.
She led us inside her home, where she had shelves full of kurtis, skirts, scarves and bags. Patiently she showed us different styles and colors, and as we tried on different things, we talked with her and learned a lot about her and her life.
She has two sons that are currently studying in the United States, but she’s never left the country, not even to visit them. She has voluntarily chosen to be vegetarian, even following a Jain diet (not eating root vegetables), even though her religion doesn’t ask it of her. Further more, having worked in a prime tourist location for twenty years , she has learnt many languages, namely French, Spanish, English, German and Italian. Not to mention the languages she grew up learning: Hindi and Marwari. Finally, my mom’s favorite thing we learnt, she refuses to use plastic in her store, and relies on cloth bags to reduce negative environmental impact.
Our time spent with her wasn’t long, but it has to be one of my favorite memories of this trip. Her jovial, enthusiastic nature, her love for her work, the environment and those around her, and just the way she’s built a life for herself and her sons, really warmed our hearts. Before we left, I knew I had to get a picture with her.
Finally, after buying a lot more than we had intended, I gave her a hug, grabbed my cloth bags and we were on our way to the next place to see and thing to experience.
~ Prisha Khimavat ~
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