For balloon seller Rajaram, I-Day means extra sales

Would you like to buy one?” 17-year-old Rajaram asks offering a tricolour umbrella to a passerby. “I have flags for Rs 10, these metal tricolour badges for Rs 20,” he says.

For Rajaram Balchandkai, Independence Day means an occasion to earn an extra buck. He doggedly hangs around visitors flocking to India Gate on Friday afternoon. He has to sell the last 30 pieces of miniature umbrellas sticking out of his makeshift shop — a pole wrapped in thick bales of hay. “My deadline is 6 pm. Then I go back to my sister’s house and begin making fresh umbrellas,” he says.

Rajaram lives in Rain Basera in Paharganj with his sister Sangeeta. He sells balloons in Connaught Place, except for on days like August 15.

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“Today was a bumper harvest,” Rajaram says. “I have already sold around 300 umbrellas, each for Rs 20,” he says.

So what does he think about Independence Day? “Gandhiji azaad hue thhe us din. Unki azaadi hui thhi. (Gandhiji was liberated on the day. He was freed).”