The quaint Indian bazaars are huge treasure troves for many a bargain hunter. You have these wholesale markets in every city that sell everything under the sun. So we have big sabzi mandis, markets for computer parts, hardware, garden equipment, furniture, home improvement, cloth markets and what have you! I have heard people reminisce about shopping in these spaces. But I have never understood the romance of shopping though I can understand the practical element of saving and choice.
And so yesterday, my husband and I spent the entire day doing some shopping in one of these bazaars in Bangalore. Also to do with the fact that one of our modems was malfunctioning, and we need to get to the customer care center (if you can call the hole in the wall that) located there. Even when you are standing right underneath it, you could not locate the place. The shops are a myriad array – row after tiny row of shops selling the same ware. Parking is a hassle but one can find spaces. And then walk the streets for miles on foot. The footpaths were quite okay and wide but there is the problem of garbage and a huge number of flies everywhere. While I waiting and watching, I saw that everyone spits – the people who spit from the bus, the traffic cop, the shopkeepers, the drivers, people from their cars. Gosh, what is it with Indians and spitting?
And most of these places are male domains – the shopkeepers and shoppers mostly male. It sort of makes a female uncomfortable and exposed even though clad in a churidar kurta. People make eyes at you, stare at you mercilessly, gesture and just make you feel very nervous inside. And the husband held my hand to make sure that I kept with his pace and also to ensure that people did not run into me :). Everyone is just running around in a hustle bustle. There is so much filth all around – garbage on the road, overflowing drains with excreta that people are avoiding and walking, and an overwhelming smell of urine.
And all that walking was making our stomach growl as well. A quick ask and we were pointed to a Kamat just a little distance away. All this walking reminded me of my Bombay days where walking is simply the norm. People just walk! Kamat’s is a typical eatery that serves thalis at meal time; it was my best friend. They had a clean restroom for which I gratefully blessed many generations of Kamat owners. The food was passable, but hunger can do miracles to your appetite. And we finished everything on our plates. We were on the streets again finding other stuff that we were looking for. Oh yes, our modem was working again too. And then get into the car and struggle with crazy traffic.
It was tiring both physically and mentally. The traffic, the noise, the sea of people all drain you physically and mentally. And I was so glad to come back home. I shudder with the memory of the trip I made to the vegetable and fruit market of Bangalore – KR Market. I have since then decided never to venture there. So, for me folks, I just have never understood this romance in shopping in badly laid out wholesale markets.
Do you enjoy shopping in India’s large wholesale spaces?
Pic courtesy: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rualthan/with/3735285973/
Rachna says 
Leave a comment