Monday, July 20, 2009

Flower women

Why would you need to get to these ladies before setting out to San Francisco? Well, if you'd listened to the 1960s song by Scott Mckenzie, you'll remember that he had asked you to be sure to wear some flowers in your hair! It's something folks in south India have known for a long time, that flowers in your hair will make you a different person - the fragrance apart, there are numerous medicinal benefits they are supposed to bring along.

Time was when 3 mozhams (mozham = distance from the tip of the middle finger to the elbow; depending upon how naive you are, the elbow can either be its crook or the outside) were the norm for a woman to wear in her hair. These days, it seems like one mozham provides enough flower power for 10 ladies to jazz up their hair-dos, not that too many of the ladies seem to be wanting such jazz.

And yet, such sights are quite common around Chennai streets. To hedge their bets, though, many of the flower sellers stay close to a temple - if not for self, the flowers can be used for a higher power!

9 comments:

Jordan said...

Interesting! I've always thought flowers in hair are pretty, wanting to bring it back. :)

LVISS said...

WHY NOT? WHEN THEY HAVE HINDU TEMPLES THEY CAN HAVE THESE PEOPLE ALSO THERE.

Leif Hagen said...

Wonderful photo! They are wearing beautiful sarees and making lovely garlands! Dhanyavadagalu!

Antjas said...

It's nice to still see the old ways, although I imagine these women are just barely getting by. Are those their children playing in the background?

B SQUARED said...

Is that higher power or flower power?

Shantaram said...

@ Jordan: Fresh ones, please! :)

@ Lviss: Hmmm... ah, you mean in 'Frisco? That'll be quite a photo opp, for sure!! :)

@ Leif: You're right, their clothes are colourful, too - didn't pay attention to that!

@ Antjas: I'm sure you're right on both counts...

@ B-Squared: :) Higher flower? :)

moochhi said...

this is pretty much the soul of madras! women in high end technology companies still wear jasmine in their hair. good to know that some good things stay. may these flower sellers prosper!

Bundle said...

Yes, the soul of Madras... and parts of it that reside in other cities count Mallippoo (jasmine ) as one of the first (and repeated) things to buy on every visit...and for all that, I live in Bangalore. But, as the old song goes " madras, nalla Madras"

Shantaram said...

@ Moochhi: Thanks for following up the comment with a call! Will get around to doing the (super-distilled) 'Soul of Madras' series :)

@ Bundle: Welcome to the blog, and thank you for the comment! Many a time, the 'soul' is something that we completely take for granted!!