The time is half past eight in the morning, when a mini truck only half-filled with flowers of different shades cramped inside plastic crates speeds to Pookada Junction, Thiruvananthapuram where veteran flower sellers in the city have set camp for decades. Garlands of yellow, orange, and white marigolds adorn the flanks of the streets as if its visitors were guests of honour.

Workers unloading fresh stock of flowers that arrived from Tamil Nadu at Chala market. | Photo Credit: NIRMAL HARINDRAN

However, the floral cargo floating on the pothole-filled streets of the Chala bazaar is given a lukewarm welcome by the vendors, despite Onam being right around the corner. The flower sellers of the bazaar present a gloomy picture owing to the subdued festivities in the State after the recent Wayanad landslides, which claimed over 231 lives. 

“Due to the government’s cancellation of the Onam celebrations, most government offices or offices in Technopark have also cancelled their celebrations. There will be no pookkalam competitions this year, and even if they do have a pookkalam, they are frugal about it,” says 34-year-old Sujith S, who works at the T Chandran Nair and Sons Flower Merchants in Chala bazaar.

As a result, flower prices have plummeted, say sellers. “White chrysanthemum flowers cost between ₹200 and ₹250 per kilogram this year as opposed to ₹450 to 500 last year; white, red, and pink shades of rose cost ₹250 per kilogram as opposed to ₹400 to 450 last year. Marigold is sold for less than ₹100 per kilogram this year when it was priced between ₹150 and ₹200 last year. Bachelor’s Button (vadamalli) costs ₹200 per kilogram this year when it was valued between ₹250 and 300 per kilogram,” says 42-year-old Prashant, who works at Sreelekshmi and Sreepadmanabha Flowers, Chala bazaar. 

Fresh flowers at Pookada Junction in Chala Market | Photo Credit: NIRMAL HARINDRAN

Usually, vendors depend on this season to compensate for any losses incurred through the year, says Sreekumar N, who owns SSK Flower Mart. “It is only in Chingam (August-September) during the Onam season or later during the Navaratri festival and other temple festivals that flower sellers can make up for the losses faced throughout the year and pay back the money they may have borrowed from others.”

The quantum of flowers that arrive from towns in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu such as Dindigul, Rayakottai, Nellakotta, Bengaluru, Hosur, and Thovala has also declined. Kannan, a headload worker and convener of  Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh Union of Chala, says, “Vendors who take 100 kilograms of flowers are taking only 15 kilograms due to the dim business.” 

Despite the reduced number of orders from the sellers, loads of flowers go to waste in the market, adds Kannan. “The same trucks that are used to bring in the load are also being used to take back unsold, wilted flowers that will be taken to farmlands in Tamil Nadu, where they are used as fertilisers. We have to pay them even for that” he rues. Some sellers collect the waste in sacks to be given to the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation. “More than 30 sacks of waste will be there every day in Chala-Karamana area,” says Sreekumar.

The lacklustre celebrations this year are disappointing to the few customers who come to buy flowers as well. Sooraj HJ, a 26-year-old who works at a company in Technopark, is celebrating his first Onam in the firm. “I have heard of grand celebrations in the past, but this year everything has been cancelled,” he says, holding to a bag of flowers for a pookkalam, the only indication of any celebration this year.