Navarathri Golu Bommais means ki Mylapore Maada Veedhi only. Ya I know, that sounded like a Radio ad. It's one of the many things Mylapore boasts of unlike its poor distant cousin T.Nagar which has only Javuli Maaligais and Saree Stores by the kilo.
The KuraLagam, Khadi Gramodyog Bhavan were / are still there, yet the joy of bargaining like Pakkis and buying the dolls is something else only. What's even better - Going to Maada Veedhi on Vijayadasami day or the day after and buying dolls at better prices as they wind up business.
Aatha is an expert bargainer. So going to Maada Veedhi with her means ki you can safely look the other way not to be embarrassed seen with her when she bargains. For eg a vendor selling a doll for Rs.50 means, Amma will safely ask them "Kadaisiya solren, Patthu Rooba" and she will end up paying them Rs.15 and buy.
With barely any space left to store the bommais, I have stopped buying dolls altogether with a few exceptions of individual dolls that one ends up picking up once every few years. These are the ones belonging to a large set of bommais that managed to survive when the rest of them got broken.
In 2018 or 2019 (and I don't quite remember), I had picked up an individual doll from a Mylapore store in Maada Veedhi - a Lady in a green saree and red blouse , holding a flower, wearing a crown sort of thing. She looked regal and I loved how well she was styled. The seller mentioned that she was part of a set and the rest were broken. Bought it immediately. As soon as I came back she was promptly packed and stored along with the other bommais and forgotten about.
Cut to 2022 - Was passing by a Navarathri bommai kadai (doll shop) in Matunga in Mumbai. Came across a bommai in a green saree and red blouse, holding a flower, wearing a crown sort of thing. Loved it so much and it was being sold dirt-cheap. Here again, the seller didn't know which set she belonged to.
After a few days as I unpacked the older dolls a.k.a existing collection of dolls I came across the Green saree lady from the box and was taken by surprise with the sheer reoccurrence of buying the same bommai again after four years.
What do you think? Were they twins separated at birth in Madras - where one grew up in Mylai and the other in Matunga? Kuzhandaiyum-Deivamum or Vani-Rani (the film) or 'Yaar Nee'?
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Masterji
Harini's Paatti - I met her last in October 2019, if I remember right. Maama (her husband) had passed away, her son and family had moved to UK. She was living alone in Mumbai. Have been trying to contact her with her mobile number and it seems to be switched off.
Bommaigalil Oru Blooper
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