Special Correspondent
Silchar, Jan 5: Though according to English poet John Keats, ‘Autumn is the season of mists and flowers’, it is winter which can be regarded as a season of fruits galore. This is exactly the picture as seen at the Sadarghat fruit market of this town, located by the side of the pleasant river Barak. It is this market which remains virtually flooded with all kinds of seasol fruits, both local and outside the valley. In fact, a fruit lover can find in this market all sorts of fruits which include watermelon, pineapple, jujube, chir, bangi, ba, coconut, sugarcane, grapefruit, litchi, custard apple, Indian blackberry, jackfruit, plum, guava among others.
This market is also known for selling fruits brought from different states of the country. Mentions has to be made here of apple, pomegrate, pears, sweet lime and grapes. Varieties of fruits have customers of different tastes. As Nikhil Chanda, a leading fruit seller of the market, said, “My shop has customers of all tastes who prefer one or two fruits and even more. It is a profitable business for me and I have been in this business for the last 20 years.” Krish Das who sells only seasol fruits and this time orange has his own story to tell, “It is the season of oranges which are brought from Harigar, 60 km from here, Punjab, Meghalaya, Aruchal Pradesh, Harya, sik and Delhi. Customers prefer mostly the Harigar local variety which is sweeter compared to others.”
Niranjan Roy, another orange seller, said, “Sale has picked up and with that the availability of local variety is on the decline, but it has not in any way affected his business.” He however has a discordant note to share as he said sale this time is a bit down. If 10 customers flock to his selling point at a time, half of them after bargaining leave without buying. Perhaps, it is still the effect of demonetization. Krishnendu Das, a fruit seller, asked about the price said it differs according to the size and quality of oranges, local and outside. He also admits demand for Harigar variety is very high. “Often, we do take a customer for a ride by mixing one variety with the other. If someone asks for Harigar, in the absence of the stock, Harya or Punjab is mixed up for it.” It is no doubt a sort of cheating, honestly. After all, the customer gets orange.
Prices vary from Rs.30 to Rs.60 per 4 pieces. Customers prefer according to their budget suitability or adjustment. Briti Chanda and Kaushav Chakraborty, customers, said though there are abundant oranges in the market, price remains competitive. One of the reasons for it is the scramble for taking hold of the truck loads of oranges from Harigar among the sellers. The highest bidder ultimately takes the entire stock and then rolled out in the market to the retailers.