Following the herd

A cow wanders past the spices beneath glowing fluorescent sabres.

I follow it through the shadows into the light. It stops, blocked by a staircase that overflows with tangerine petals, then turns as though lost in thought on a Sunday afternoon, and returns to the land of darting hands and looped jasmine.

It’s a peculiar thing, wandering around markets – and indeed the world – whether following a cow or following a camera. I often feel invisible, a brief phantom that glides through the majesty and muck of mankind and its creations, watching, listening, feeling, waiting, breathing.

It takes only a snap, however, to realise just how ridiculous that notion can be. A single snap of myself, that is, with white skin, blonde hair and, let’s not forget, a mighty big camera pressed against my face. There are few places in the world where that look’s a recurring scene.

The Flower Markets of Bangalore

Yet in markets, a cloak of concealment does seem to descend. People are busy. Busy buying, busy selling, busy packing, moving, dealing, trading – and in the Bangalore Flower Market, busy threading petals through palms. They look, smile, chat, agree but no-one has time to stare and there’s no time spare to indulge in slow conversation.

In London’s Covent Garden, I received a fierce and brittle “no” when it came to taking photos. Merchants are apparently afraid that people will steal their ideas through photography. Most everywhere else, however, people embrace the chance to let their wares shine, while they giggle or pose or slope out of the scene or occasionally manage to pull off doing all three at once.

In the Flower Market in Bangalore, however, things were different.

In the Flower Market in Bangalore, however, things were different.

Folk begged to have their photos taken. They decked me out in garlands and hairpieces and talismans for my bag. They smiled and they posed and they simply loved to have me standing there.

And it felt good.

Not many tourists pass through Bangalore, India’s third largest city and hub for electronics and IT. Fewer still, perhaps, make it here on a Saturday morning. Perhaps that’s why there’s such a warm welcome. Or perhaps it’s just coincidence.

Still, garlanded with happiness and smelling of white jasmine, I smiled, showed people their photos, and then turned back to follow the cow.