Mangal Gauns from Shirdona sells her lot of four marigoldgarlands and returns to the small group of women seated under the shade of themango tree by the side of the Miraculous Cross in Bambolim, popularly known asFulancho Khuris. The women are threading their flowers, which they purchasedfrom the Panjim market in the morning. There are two groups of women of 16members each and each group sits in the shade of the trees or in front of theshops that are on either side of the church. They follow a certain orderwherein only two women “ one from each group “ sell garlands in front of thecross at a time. After a woman has finished selling four garlands, she has to returnand make way for the next in turn. This ensures that every woman gets a chanceat selling garlands.
The women arrive at the cross at different times of the daydepending on when their turn is. “Some of them reach here at 5 am and are hereas late as 9 pm. Some of the women have been selling flowers even before thechurch and these shops were built,” says the proprietor of a general store, wholooks kindly upon the women. Back then, they had only the shade of the treesfor shelter. While Satyavati Kankonkar says she has been selling flowers forover 30 years now, the others have been working for as long as 15 years to asshort as two years.
Behind the smile that comes with much difficulty, lies a lotof pain and paucity. “We manage to sell around eight garlands at a day Rs 20 agarland, and the money is just about enough for a day’s meal,” says KusumGawas. She wakes up in the morning, cooks food and makes her way to Bambolimfrom Siridao.
Almost all the flower sellers are widowed. They never take aday off. “If we take a day off, there will be no food on the table,” saysKusum. When she was asked if she will celebrate Diwali which is round thecorner, she said she will take a bath in the morning, eat some beaten rice andmake her way to the cross. The women express their gratitude to the church forthe permission to sell flowers by doing odd jobs such as cleaning the churchcompound and premises.
