A green fantasy

A green fantasy

While most folks have switched to buying vegetables and fruits online, I save two precious hours every week to step into market for my buying ritual .

Beyond passion
I call it a ritual because that is how I go about it – intense, focused on the finer details, with complete dedication and method and an edge of unwavering passion that has been steady for years.
There is something very visceral about choosing your own vegetables and fruits; checking each piece for colour, freshness , taking in the aroma and feeling the crispy, plump exterior to acquire the perfect pieces; I find it the most liberating and De-stressing process as it connects me to the little girl within me.

Reliving a memory
It reminds me of my visits to the “bhajiwallahs” selling fresh produce from the farms arranged atop little pushcarts on the dusty by lanes of bazaars in Mumbai.
The site of an immaculate tomato, sleek, scarlet and firm , the vision of those speckle potatoes with damp clay sticking on its outside , the pretty cauliflowers and dainty okras , the royal aubergines, the sharp pink onions, those raw green guavas and ripe, juicy strawberries is sensual to say the least . A clinical online purchase, cannot even come close that experience.

A treasured exercise
In the midst of the maddening pace of life, the very act of picking up a few cloth bags, going on a grocery buying spree, taking in the aroma of fresh mint , cilantro, tender green peas … is is sacrosanct to me . Priceless in the joy of connecting to Mother nature .
The sight of me at a grocery store dragging a cart full of fresh fruits and veggies as though I had a battalion of people to feed, might be funny .

Those divine greens
However being a vegan , this is one of the most important routines of my life , one that I wouldn’t swap for any temptation in the world !
The only thing that comes close it is watching the seeds thrown into the soil, sprout into perfect veggies on my little garden patch !