Just the other day, I visited the fishmongers. Needless to say, it had been a very messy business. As I walked through tiny alleyways, I saw a plump fisherwoman haggle with a potential customer. There she was, in a sweat-laden lilac-coloured saree, draped rather incongruously showing off her ample bosom and midriff. I took stock of her appearance. On her ears hung large gold loops while a mangalsutra adorned her well-endowed chest. Her tight blouse afforded us a sight of her thick hairy arms albeit they were heavily laden with green and red bangles. Her hair was tied in a scruffy knot and she had a single hibiscus pinned to her jet-black locks.
She dangled a crab by its claw and waved it about as she swore that the crab in question was the best that the Arabian Sea had ever nurtured. She had a bossy demeanour, a flirty glint in her eyes and her buck teeth were gleaming white. The distinct smell of raw fish seemed to be emanating from her.
I stood and watched the scene.
The customer was a tiny, mousey man. While he seemed to ponder over the sale, I noticed his not-so-subtle gaze pass over the fisher woman’s legs. Her saree was hitched up, all the way to her knees and while she wasn’t particularly beautiful, she certainly appeared to possess a sense of bodaciousness. Her leg muscles gleamed like burnished copper.
Before long, the sale was made!
The mousey man walked away (to inspect another woman’s calves I suppose?) while the fisher woman celebrated her sale with a tiny chuckle. She’d managed to sell her entire stock of crabs for the day!
I was just about to leave the scene when I watched an old lady approach our keeper of crustaceans. As if one cue, the willy saleswoman straightened out her saree to cover her legs and chest and sat timidly with a pious countenance. This time the sale of a kilogram of shrimp was made in polite, hushed tones with no haggling at all. After the old lady walked away with the shrimp, the fisherwoman reverted back to her usual scanty style of dressing.
With an expectant look on her face and a surprisingly nimble hand on her pallu, our fierce tigress patiently sat awaiting her next prey!
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