Usually I am fond of spotting this root in Mumbai during September ever since I came to Mumbai in 1985 from the state of Karnataka. After that I always try to find it out this jumbo cylindrical shaped jungle root which usually has height of more than one meter. It tastes quite similar to topioca. They call it Ram Kandmoola. As my experience goes, it is purely a seasonal root I think it grows fully during the end of monsoon. but I admire this jumbo king.
Yesterday I was walking on the footpath outside Mumbai's Jehangir Art Gallery opposite Sassoon Library, some 5 minutes walk from Gateway of India and I was lucky to SPOT this fascinating root prominently called as 'Ram Kandamoola' meaning Ram referred to Lord Rama of epic Ramayana and Kandamoola means a type of root which according to mythology, Ram when he was in the jungle for 14 years used to eat this root. An old man from a rural area of interior north-east part of Karnataka state on the bordering the state of Andhra Pradesh brought few days ago to Mumbai and used to sell on the Queen's Neckless called Marine Drive some 1-2 km from Hotel Oberoi Towers (where 26/11 firing took place). He said since yesterday there was a huge congregation of millions of people he was driven away by the Municipal combrades although he would have loved to make fastest buck out of this jumbo cylindrical root by cutting into slices of 5 mm thick with size of a child's palm. He was selling it Indian Rupees Two per piece but offered three pieces for Indian Rupees five.
It is one of the rarest scenes amid Mumbai's crowded pavements (sorry there is non crowd since yesterday there was public holiday for Ganesh immersion festival). He has written in Hindi on a piece of paper that this root is called Ram kandmoolah and that Lord Rama used to eat it when he was forced to live in jungles. The old man also claims that this root if eaten cleans the stomach.
The old man he was not only talking to me but was staring at me and I did not trouble him. He had not much business due to his shifting base from a crowded area to a non crowded area (by authorities). But as he got busy in making slices (as I bought three pieces tactfully for Rs.5). As for price the seller is the dictator because this was the cheapest, usually I remember having bought this for Rs.5 for one piece but yesterday he was selling three pieces for Rs.5 due to brisk business. The no. of pieces that he cut into slices would be more than 5000 considering the height of one meter plus. post by shripad bhat (anyone who know the biological name of this root, pls post it under comment section.