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(Joel) What's your name?
My name?
My name is Sunanda Parsekar.
(Joel) So you come from Parxem?
I come from Porvorim.
(Joel) And you sell daily? - Yes, we sell daily.
(Joel) How many years have you been doing this?
Me? I've been doing this for 40-45 years.
(Joel) Really? How old are you?
I'm more than 50.
Really. OK, take it as 40. At least 40 years have gone by, I've been selling since childhood.
You see these bananas? I've been selling these since I was this small.
These bananas I've sold for as less as 4 annas a dozen, 2 annas a dozen.
These bananas I've sold for 5 rupees a dozen.
At that time, bananas were very cheap - 40 rupees for a hundred, 50 rupees for a hundred.
We sold these for 5, 6, 7, 8 sometimes up to 10 rupees for a dozen - these very bananas.
I've been selling since my childhood, since I was a little girl.
So It's been a minimum 40 years or so that I've been doing business at this market.
(Joel) These are now 2 rupees each.
These? For 2 rupees, yes. These we sold for 4 annas, 8 annas, 12 annas, even a rupee for a dozen.
Now, the prices have gone up, and we sell it for 50 rupees a dozen.
At present, we buy 50 kilos for 2500 rupees, for 100 kilos - one quintal - it is Rs. 5000.
(Joel) Do you buy in quintals?
Yes, in quintals, when you don't have enough, you have to buy, right?
But there's a shortage of bananas presently.
Tomorrow, when there are more bananas in the market, they'll be much cheaper.
(Joel) And where are these bananas from?
These are bananas which we have bought from people who come from various nearby villages.
(Joel) What are they called?
These are 'ilchi' bananas. They are from Goa.
Bananas from our plantations were planted elsewhere, some in this village, some in that and that.
They all grow these in their villages.
So these are 'bulerchi' bananas, 'pulerchi' bananas, then these are our ilchi bananas...
and these 'munnovchi' are from our plantation.
These are also susceptible to damage by strong winds, water logging, ants, pests...
...diseases, climate changes... they may have to be sprayed with pesticides...
All these problems result in much lesser yield.
The rates of these are also now Rs. 1000 for 100.
We buy it for a thousand.
Some buy it from us for Rs. 150 (a dozen), Rs.140, and if they are small, then they buy it for a hundred.
What else can we do?
It is God's will.
(Salil) Are these Moira bananas?
These are Moira bananas. That means they were first grown in Moira.
Then our ancestors, our Goan ancestors, moved to various other villages...
...and planted these bananas there.
In Mencurem, Ibrampur, Dodamarg, on this side (North?)...
...everywhere they got this crop.
Thereafter, because of water logging, people didn't want it.
Now, people have put in some efforts and are growing it again.
This may be temporary, and with less yield, but people have done some business at least.
If the water collects in the roots, the crop is lost.
Like in the last month (July 2013), the water didn't drain out for almost a month.
That time, a lot of people lost their crop. The water remained for a whole month.
Anyway, God saved us and we managed to save some of the crop...
...and that we are selling now.
(Joel) Well at least the elephants didn't eat the crop.
No, the elephants have not done anything, we salute them for that.
We can't say anything to the elephants.
Who will feed them? They belong to Nature - who will feed them?
They also pray that they should get food, so let them eat.
They will pray for more, and we'll get a better harvest later.
They are God's creatures, we can't say anything to them.
(Salil) How do we tell the other long bananas from Karnataka from the Moira bananas?
They were also from Moira originally, and from there, people planted elsewhere.
(Salil) But such long bananas come from Karnataka as well, right?
Those are different, they are from Kerala.
(Salil) How can you tell that these are Moira bananas and those are not?
Our Moira bananas look very different on the facing side. The other ones look different from front.
If you look closely, they look different.
Ours look fresh and nice, and more attractive.
(Joel) So you can tell the difference?
Yes, I can tell, I don't buy those. I don't bring them, mine are only these.
My customers also prefer these.
(Customer) Your customers are here...
These are my customers.
(Joel) How many years have you been buying from her?
I can't remember... maybe 20 years.
They are my regular customers.
(Joel) Where do you come from? - Candolim.
(Joel) And you're here for? - To buy bananas.
(Joel) You don't buy from Calangute? - She says hers are the best.
When they go there, they get it from there. When they are here, they buy it from here.
When they are in Mapusa, they are mine.
(Joel) This fellow buys only Moira bananas, won't buy anything else.
(Prashant) These are from Mencurem, right?
Yes, Mencurem, Ibrampur, Sall...
(Prashant) We can't get from Moira now.
Some people do grow, a few here, 10-15 there, they do grow.
But they soon get diseases and die. They have to take care.
(Prashant) Ibrampur and Mencurem?
Yes, both Ibrampur and Mencurem have always been much bigger plantations than ours.
But now, people are growing less...
It has become very difficult, because of strong winds, water logging etc.
But people are still growing, some grow more, some less.
Because they have taken the trouble to grow, we have enough. By God's grace.