AFVOA Newsletter of Year 2021

Section 7 – Panorama CV 2 No. 01 / 2021 Page 107 of 123 3 Devarahalli to Dubai Wg Cdr Sudarshan Genre: Reflections belonged to a small village called Gangoor in central Karnataka. Devarahalli is a neighbouring village famous for Lord Ranganatha Swamy temple atop a hillock. Hence the village got its name as God’s village - Devara halli. There is a small rivulet which flows at a short distance from the village. The farmers in these areas are traditionally vegetable growers. The womenfolk are very active in growing and marketing their ware in nearby villages. They have divided the villages equally so that there is no clash amongst them. A middle aged lady called Paravva used to come to our village to sell vegetables. At eight in the morning she would enter our village shouting, Vegetables, green chilies and swiftly make a round of the entire village and in two hours sell all her wares and return home with an empty basket. Recently, when we went to our village, we stopped by and went to the temple. When we returned from the temple to our car, a farmer who was waiting for a bus, approached us if we could give him a lift in our car to the nearby town. We agreed and he hopped in. It’s a small village and everyone knows everybody else. Out of curiosity I asked him if he knew Paravva, the vegetable seller. To my utter surprise he said she is his mother and she is keeping well. That made me happy and I further enquired about how the vegetable business is going on. When he explained how the vegetable business is going on, it was my turn to get baffled. Devarahalli, once a sleepy village is now doing business with the Gulf countries! They have formed their own cooperative society. Every midnight two trucks arrive at the vegetable farms. The area is brightly lit, ladies, children quickly pluck the bitter guard and ladies finger which are their specialties. Fill the sacks after a thorough quality check and load the trucks. The trucks then travel for five hours and reach the Bengaluru airport. 6E 95 of Indigo departs Bengaluru for Dubai and the vegetables of Devarahalli are loaded in that. The flight lands in Dubai at 9:50 Dubai local time. In an hour's time the vegetables reach the markets of Bur Dubai, a predominantly Indian locality. Probably the vegetables form part of the lunch menu. I