To take it to the limit, Sonati and I decided to try and hawk our lemons in the shandy at Karumandurai. So we set off on the TVS with our bagful of lemons (and some lemon juice to drink), found a corner of the road, and set up the bag on the seat of the TVS. I started calling out "Paththu rubai-ku naalu" (Ten rupees for four).

In the hour that we spent there, we didn't sell a single lemon.

The only ones who made a foray in our direction were the brokers. The garlic-man and his wife were also discouraging: "No-one will buy lemons; just give it to that broker...". Raja came by for a chat and said that we should definitely not sell for 40 paise a lemon, but take them to Salem where "they don't cheat so much".

Was it a broker nexus that ensured that no-one bought from us? I wonder. In the end, we unloaded our entire stock on Jothi and returned home. The Net-net for the day was a sketch by Sonati of me hawking (read trying to hawk) lemons off the TVS.