People were still heading home to their villages a day before Eid-ul-Azha. Bus horns blared, and people hurried to the bus stand in CNG auto-rickshaws and on foot. Whistles, noise and crowds were everywhere.

Amid the rush, fruit sellers sat on the pavement with lychees piled on their vans, calling out "honey, honey" from their mobile stalls.

Some called "honey sweet", some "bursting with juice, Dinajpur lychee", some "three hundred" or "three hundred and fifty". Others advertised Rajshahi lychees at Tk 450, and China and Bombay lychees at Tk 450, Tk 500 and even Tk 600.

"Taste this delicious lychee first, then buy. Come along, or you may not get to taste lychee later. The price is low, it is good lychee, check it, there are no worms," they called, trying every trick to attract buyers. Customers were seen tasting and bargaining before buying, though prices were slightly higher than on the previous two days.

The scene was observed at the Sayedabad bus stand in Jatrabari on Wednesday (27 May). Sellers said a lot of lychees were sold that day.

Traders said even more were sold on the two previous days, Monday and Tuesday. Some said they had sold 5,000 lychees, some 4,000 and some 3,000. One said he had sold Tk 50,000 worth of lychees a day.

Afroza, heading to Bagerhat, bought lychees for Tk 380. Returning home with her sister, she bought 200 lychees for the family. "There are no lychees in the village. Even if you want to buy, you have to go a long way. You do not find lychees like this in the village, so I bought them," she told Jagonews.

Two brothers, Jihad and Russel, bought lychees and left to catch a bus to Dashmina in Patuakhali. Over the past two days people of all ages from Shanir Akhra, Sayedabad, Jatrabari and nearby areas have been buying lychees to take home. Many also bought mangoes, black plums, apples, oranges and grapes, while some bought only lychees.

One buyer said: "I am heading home. There are small children at home but no lychee tree, so I took a few hundred lychees." The seller first asked Tk 400, then Tk 380 and finally Tk 360, and after bargaining he paid Tk 350.

A regular fruit trader said he sold oranges, malta, apples and grapes as well as local lychees all year round. "Look around: most of the sellers here are not regular fruit traders but lychee sellers," he said. "With the big fruit wholesale market nearby, they do not have to go far. They can bring lychees cheaply to Jatrabari and the Sayedabad stand, so selling is no problem."

He said Monday had been the best day: apart from oranges, malta and apples, he sold Tk 50,000 worth of lychees.

A day before Eid, seasonal fruit sellers were using the opportunity to make some profit.

Seasonal lychee seller Forkan said he had sold lychees for two days. "I work in a private job. I am selling lychees before going home for Eid in the hope of earning a little extra," he told Jagonews.

He said he sold 3,000 lychees between 6am and 9:30am that day. "The profit is fair, but I had to sell a bit cheaper because lychees in several bundles at the bottom of the basket had rotted. Once customers see that, they do not want to pay. So I have to balance higher and lower prices across the whole basket to make a profit," he said.

Sorted into small, medium and large, 100 lychees were selling for Tk 250, Tk 300, Tk 350, Tk 400, Tk 500 and even Tk 600.

On Wednesday, people of all ages heading home with their families were seen buying lychees on the way to their buses.

Moinul Islam, who sells fish packets and shopping bags, said he had started selling lychees two days earlier, as a hobby before Eid. An elderly lychee seller said he too had been selling for two days. "I bought 1,200 lychees today, but sales are not good because of the rain. Maybe it will pick up after the rain," he said.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.