People

Flavours of life: Meet a famous muri mixture seller in Visakhapatnam

Serving a pocketful of delicious street food, Mallikarjuna Rao, a 41-year-old muri mixture seller from Seetammadhara, Visakhapatnam, shares his story.

With a menu as basic as muri (puffed rice) mixture and raw banana bhajji, I had started my bandi (cart) in 1999. Though I have had my share of struggles in this journey, my wife, Lakshmi, has stuck with me through thick and thin, ever since we got married. Twenty years down the road, I now have a larger cart and a bunch of customers who come from the other end of the city just to savour my muri mixture.

My day usually begins with handpicking fresh vegetables, spices, and other ingredients, at the Seethammadhara Rythu Bazaar. After milling the gram flour, I grab a quick lunch while my wife chops the vegetables. Later on, I get down to preparing a variety of bhajjis, from raw bananas to mirchi and tomatoes to onions. I set up my cart by 6 PM. By then, a few customers will be waiting for their daily staple. The peak hours of the business (7:30 PM to 9:30 PM) witness a high demand for the traditional muri mixture and scrumptious tomato bhajjis. On a good day, I manage to earn up to Rs 1000, while on some days the daily income drops to as low as Rs 300.

The earnings see a dip owing to a highly competitive market or a change in the weather. Although it’s disheartening to see hard work go wasted, I have no plans of quitting this business of muri mixture in Visakhapatnam. I understand that fluctuations are part and parcel of any trade. All said and done, the contented smiles on my customers’ faces could never match up to the money I would ever earn in my lifetime”.

Location: Near Andhra Bank, Seethammadhara

This post was last modified on 16/09/2019 11:45 am

Leave a Comment

Recent Posts

Top 9 OTT releases of this week – here are the three that you can’t miss!

As the year is ending, the OTT platforms are heating up with some much-anticipated releases…

13 hours ago

Gripping Telugu psycho-thrillers on OTT that will test your nerves this week!

Love mindbending thrillers? Then, get ready to lose yourself in a whirlwind of dark, mind-blowing…

14 hours ago

If you’re in Visakhapatnam, there’s no better time than now to visit these 9 places

'Tis the season, not just to be jolly, but to also make a few final…

14 hours ago

Visakhapatnam to experience rainfall and thunder in next few days!

Andhra Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority (APSDMA) has issued a high alert in response to…

18 hours ago

5 reality TV shows you must watch if you’re having withdrawals from Bigg Boss Telugu 8!

Bigg Boss Telugu 8, the biggest Telugu reality game show ended on Sunday, 15th December.…

18 hours ago

Son of a political leader behind ‘honey trap’

The city police are probing into the role of the son of a political leader…

19 hours ago