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Sunshine-hued pods are blended in an urn-like vessel with a
few drops of oil and butter, a pinch of salt and turmeric powder and not to
forget-a hint of spice to perk up the taste of the ubiquitously humble snack of
the common man-king of corn, popcorn as it is fondly referred to. Introducing,
a slice of their street-side life- which is quite unlike their elite presence
in malls and multiplexes, that have variants in flavours- caramel, and
powder-like embellishments that are tossed to crunchy perfection, of course
priced almost ten times higher. “This is not something that one remembers to
buy on a daily basis, in fact even you don’t buy this just as often”- quips a
roadside popcorn vendor, Abdul Hameed; in the streets of Dhandeeshwaram Nagar,
Velachery. When I had paused to buy a packet, I found the glass case in which
the urn-like vessel is housed, totally empty with the light of the yellow
tungsten bulb beaming through the glass case. Hameed is not done for the day yet,
it was almost 9 pm. He had instead tossed in some corn kernels for a fresh bout
of the crunchy snack. As the corn kernels are cooked, they automatically begin
to pop out and form a heap within the glass case. While I stood watching that,
I quiz him on how he gets the power supply for his machine- he points out to an
electric line right above which connects with that of a vegetable shop. He
shells out a few hundreds as daily rent to the owners of the vegetable shop for
his daily existence there. My curiosity only grew when he said that. How much
would he possibly make when a pack each costs only a negligible Rs.10/-?! He
smiles wryly and says that he only makes about a 1000/- rupees every day. He adds
that he has never considered increasing the rate unlike his peers in other
locales; for he feels more people visit his stall and that’s exactly what he
wants. Sliding some of the popped corn into a plastic cover, and sealing it
with the heat emanating from the vessel, he tells me, that he has a floating
population of buyers and that such stalls are at their economical best in
crowded areas. Hameed, who comes from Taramani, is up and running with his
stall at around 5pm daily; when he’s not selling corn, he’s out catering to
some electrical and plumbing needs in various households only to make ends
meet. Even as I am egging on for some details from him, I find that he is quite
good at multi-tasking: While he happily answers my questions, he manages to
dish out a cup of sweet corn for a customer in the neighbouring stall, whose
owner had just stepped out for a break. This only goes to show the camaraderie
that they share; I silently thought. I thank him for the packet of corn which
had the following message: King of Corn, Popcorn, Keep Smiling, Have a nice dayJ. As I leave, he asks
me, “Vera ethavathu message venuma (do you need any other piece of
information)?”Quite like the message on the pack of popcorn he sells, I just
return a smile.
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