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| The boon of Sunday bazaars | | Transact business worth Rs one crore; two thousand earn livelihood | | Early Times Special Correspondent
Jammu | Dec 4
With most of the shops in the city markets closed on Sundays, make shift bazaars come up in major parts of old Jammu city, what have come to be known as Sunday Bazaar. Right from Raghunath Mandir chowk to City Chowk, Kanak Mandi, Rajinder Bazaar, Residency Road and even along Super Bazaar up to Purani Mandi and beyond this Raj Tilak Road, up to Sabzi Mandi and even in the by lanes of Kachi Chhauni and Pacca Dunga thousands of pavement vendors put up their merchandise for sale on Sundays.
According to a rough estimate the Sunday bazaars transact business worth Rs 1 crore every Sunday and provide livelihood to about two thousand families. It is estimated that as many as twenty thousand shoppers visit one or the other Sunday market, to buy cheap articles, sold at much lower rates than available in the regular shops. Among the articles put up on sale are cheap varieties of cloth to readymade clothing, footwear, utensils and other household gadgets. But the item which are on hot sale and which are mostly on sale in all these markets are readymade clothing, including the warm clothing, like knitted sweaters, pullovers, shirts, pants, coats, overcoats and jackets etc.
The cotton, terry cot and woolen wearing produced in abundance in China find their way in India and are sold at many time cheaper rates than the Indian made wears. A well stitched cotton or terry cot shirt of quite durable and fancy cloth can be had in the Sunday bazaar at as cheap rate as Rs 50 to 60 per piece, whereas the price of the similar shirt, well packed and with some branded name will be available in a fashionable shop or store for not less than Rs 500 to 800. The only difference is that in the Sunday bazaar or on the pavements daily these wears are sold in loose unpacked form. A well stitched woolen shirt of fine cloth, which costs one not less than Rs 300 to 400 in buying cloth and then getting it stitched from a tailor who would not charge less than Rs 100 per piece, can be bought in the Sunday bazaar or from the regular pavement sellers for Rs 75 to Rs 90.
Woolen or synthetic jackets, which are quite warm and protect against the cold are available in the Sunday market or from the pavement sellers at ten times rates lower than the same available in a fashionable store. It is really a bonanza for the poor, who cannot purchase the costly woolen clothing or other winter wears from regular shops, to go in for the same at the pavement vendors or in the Sunday bazaar. These cheap clothing have come as a blessing for the poor or the lower middle income group people, who can now think of protecting themselves and their children from the biting cold, moving about conveniently.
However these Sunday bazaars or make shift shops on the pavements are not an unmixed blessing. Hundreds of make shift shops on the pavements and even on the regular roads coming up, particularly on Sundays lead to worst traffic hazard and chaos. With major parts of the roads covered by the vendors and shoppers moving from one vendor to another in making selection of the goods to purchase as also the price suiting their pocket, it becomes next to impossible for even the two wheelers to pass by and even the pedestrians have to jostle with each other and rub their shoulders to pass through. Going through these bazaars on Sundays one gets the feeling of visiting a fair. The crowd that throng the markets on Sundays create an impression as if the entire city has come out on the streets for making shopping. Nevertheless these have come as a boon for the poor and the lower middle income group people, who no more feel envious of the rich and resourceful people moving about wearing fashionable clothing. |
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