IF you are superstitious and want to ward off the evil eyes of jealous neighbours and envious business rivals, then you should do as the vegetable vendors in Visakhapatnam�s Poorna Market do. They install a �Drishtibomma� outside their homes and business places. And the �Drishtibomma� acts like a scarecrow. It keeps away the evil eye!

The striking vegetable vendor in the picture alongside is holding up a �Drishtibomma�. It is a pumpkin on which is painted a devil�s face bearing horns, fangs and a tongue sticking out.

Everywhere you go in Vizag, you will find the �Drishtibomma� rudely sticking its tongue out at you or glaring balefully from doorways and windows. Not to install one would mean to invite evil.

The marketsfolk are superstitious, but they are also a rugged and cheerful lot. The women vegetable vendors are handsome in a dark and dangerous manner. They dress colourfully, talk with great animation and passion, and smoke indigenously-made cigars. They make better salespersons, too. The men are shy and reserved and strike poor bargains. It is easy to see that the market is the women�s domain in Vizag.

The Poorna Market is a delightful place to be absorbed in. It is extremely lively and colourful. Alongside the �Drishtibomma�, don�t be surprised to find framed photographs of Telugu superstars put up and grinning down at you. And you could buy everything at the market for the kitchen, from vegetables and fruit, to spices and condiments, grains and pulses, and implements and equipment for cooking.

The vendors speak in Telugu, naturally, but are willing to converse in embarrassed Hindi if you cannot speak their language. They are friendly, helpful and respectful. At mid-day, a hawker enters the market with a bamboo across his shoulders on whose two ends are balanced stainless steel pots of buttermilk. It is time for a break.