Himmat Lal is doing good, but only on the surface

Deepkamal Kaur

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, October 13

These are good days for street vendor Himmat Lal, 40, and his family. Ever since there has been a spike in the dengue cases, the sales of his coconuts have seen a spurt. Parking his cart in the posh Model Town area right in front of the gurdwara, he manages to sell nearly 150 of them a day, reaching home with a pocket full of cash – over Rs7,000 each day.

But Lal is quick to reveal the bigger picture, “Do not think that I am earning very good. The coconut sells here for Rs45 to Rs50 and my margin is very small. Since I am catering to most of the posh areas, I have to duly ensure that my product is good. With more vendors getting into the business, my sales have certainly got affected. Besides, I have to pay hefty fee to the MC staff to be allowed to run this trade from a good location,” he has paid his dues in the process.

While he keeps on selling his coconuts in a fine way, slicing the top, keeping a tissue at the bottom and sliding in a bended straw, he shares how laborious his job is. Every morning him or his younger brother go to the market to fetch coconuts, they have to randomly check that all pieces purchased are good. He has to be on his toes all the while. “The arhtiyas are very smart and too good at layering the top of every pack with good items. The deeper you go, you will find that they have packed it all up with very ordinary stuff. Once you have the right stuff, you need to keep on standing almost the whole day waiting for clients and calling them to your cart. I come here at 9 am and leave past 10 pm,” he says.

Lal, who has been doing this for the past six years, says, “I was initially into selling fruits only. My father did the same job before me. Even before I completed my matriculation, I had joined him. It has been over 26 years of street vending. Earlier, we were selling fruits on Nakodar road.”

However, that didn’t suit his health as he would fall ill too often. A consultation with the doctor apprised him that it had something to do with the environment he was carrying out his business at. “Ever since I shifted here, I have been keeping fine. As my brother also got into the same business, we took two carts – one for fruits which is his and the other of coconut that I run,” he adds. The brothers stand apart at a distance of less than 50m and always take care of one another’s cart whenever required.

The coconut seller, with a back-breaking rut he goes through every day, gives him enough time to contemplate about the future of his kids. “Both my children are in school. I am paying a good amount of fee for their education so that they get good jobs and need not do the hard labour that we are putting in,” he signs off.