They're like haats (rural markets) really. And they happen in different parts of Delhi each day of the week. The merchants and merchandise are the same, only the locations within the city are different. The setting is entirely urban, but the people involved are largely migrants from Uttar Pradesh and elsewhere, bringing this increasingly embattled rural tradition to the national capital.
The haats regularly make stops in the various residential colonies in the city, on fixed days.
The merchants are the same, the products the same, only the location changes.
And they are struggling to keep their business alive.
Mizul Haq, 64, is a resident of Madangir who travels throughout the week to make an earning. “I have been doing this for three decades, and have seen things change,” explains Haq. His sales have dropped by almost 60-70 per cent over the years.
On a Monday afternoon, tirelessly fitting the iron bars of his small 8x12 feet makeshift stall in Pushp Vihar in South Delhi, Haq points towards the mall in the vicinity and adds with a sigh, “That has taken away my 60 per cent customers.”
Other merchants mirror Haq’s concerns. “The new generation is obsessed with brands, it adds to their ‘status',” explains Mahesh, a cosmetics stall owner. In an attempt to convince buyers that his products are authentic, he has renamed his shop: from Mahesh Cosmetics to Hollywood-Bollywood Cosmetics Shop.
Despite the wide variety of merchandise available, these markets see very few visitors. “We have roadside stalls and cannot compete with the shops in the mall. We can only watch them steal away our remaining customers,” says Ahmed, who sells beautiful blankets at reasonable rates.
Market locations:
Sunday
– RK Puram; Daryaganj
Monday
– Pushp Vihar; Karol Bagh; Vikaspuri
Tuesday
– Sector-2, Noida; Tilak Nagar
Wednesday
– Sadik Nagar; Govindpuri; Vasant Vihar; Shyam Path; Moti Nagar; Rani Bagh
Thursday
– Masjid Moth; Mayur Vihar; Rajender Nagar; Ramesh Nagar
Friday
– West Patel Nagar; Vikram Enclave; Sanjay Nagar; Mohammadpur; Rajouri
Saturday
– Sarita Vihar; East of Kailash; Lajpat Nagar; Vijay Nagar; Karam Pura
A different version of this this piece was originally published in
The Lonely Planet
:
http://www.lonelyplanet.in/articles/7468/colourful-bazaars-of-delhi-in-moving-images
