“I am allowed to sell flowers only between 6 am and 9:45 am. The rest of the 15 minutes goes to clear things up. Very few people buy from me as most prefer to buy only essentials these days. Wastage due to rotten flowers is high since we can sell only for a few hours. I don’t have any other alternative.

I’ve set up this stall here for quite some time now. Hailing from Kondapuram village in Rangareddy District, I moved to the city in 1982, along with my husband and worked for a daily wage for a few years. Later I started this flower business on my own. Though I sell all types of flowers, the main attraction here is the Chamanthi and Mallepulu.The reason I started this business was to be financially independent and support my family as much as I can. That satisfaction is something completely different.

Last year, when the nationwide lockdown was imposed, we had to shut shop for more than 3 months. We survived on our savings for some time, and when that got exhausted, we were forced to live on some donations from the local NGO. There were nights when we had to sleep on an empty stomach. I hoped to never experience those nights again, but our nightmare is back.

Summer is the main season for events, weddings and hospitality, so for the small flower vendors like us, it’s been a major disaster. I request the Government officials not to turn blind eye to us. We only need some support to survive and we don’t want to see our children starve!”