Blooming desires

At 2am, while the rest of her family slumbers, 40-year-old Lakshmi gets ready for another day of work at Koyambedu _flower market, one of Chennai's busiest wholesale venues.

- AVANI THAKKAR

You'd think that having to begin working at an ungodly hour would mean doing away with a beauty routine or fussing over what to wear, but Lakshmi offers a contradiction. Choosing a happy-hued cotton sari from her steel almari, stacking her arms with glass bangles, wearing her gold jimmikis (earrings) and nath (nose ring), wrapping fresh gajras around her neatly knotted hair-Lakshmi is one of the many middle-aged women across South India whose livelihood depends on gathering fresh flower produce before the crack of dawn.

Inextricably linked to the country's social and cultural fabric, the plenitude of gulaab, kamal, chameli and genda is evident in every festival, nuptial and gifting checklist, adorning homes, hair, deities and temples everywhere. In South India, the onset of Onam is marked by pookalam (flower rangolis) decorating doorways to welcome King Mahabali for a good harvest. Travel to Karnataka during Ugadi and you'll see marigold and mango leaf torans draped across front doors to ward off nazar. India's flower business (valued at *26,200 crore last year as per market research firm IMARC) is dependent on people who have dedicated generations to the trade despite reaping few benefits in return.