Mallside hues

LUCKNOW: “Harek maal das rupiye ka� (all goods for Rs ten), calls out a vendor whose display contains cutlery and kitchen accessories of every imaginable variety — spoons, rolling pins, knives, stainless steel dinner plates, tongs — you name it, and it is there. If this is marvellous, wait, as the next vendor offers tough competition to this one “yahan sab paanch ka� (all goods for Rs 5 here), he chants.
Welcome to Nishatganj weekly market. Come Wednesday and the area is alive with multi-coloured shops that line both sides of the road and, at places, even the road divider. Here is where everything beginning from household goods to shoes, bags, cosmetics, clothes, innerwear and even artificial flowers are available at this open-air departmental store for the common man.
Jagannath, whose ware is meticulously laid out on the ground, is a proud man: “The kind of goods that are available at my stall you will not find even in Hazratganj,� he claims. True to his word, the crockery at his stall is very different from that available at the usual stores in posh market areas, and the quality is good, too. “What I sell for Rs 50 will be priced at Rs 90 in any big showroom,� says Jagannath who has been putting up a stall at Nishatganj for 15 years now.
Most customers substantiate his claim. “You can get everything in one area, and the rates are reasonable, too. All you need is a little stamina to bargain,� says HP Verma who has been visiting the market for more than ten years. But not all are happy with the market. As the day wanes to evening, more shoppers pour into Nishatganj, making one feel almost claustrophobic. The traffic barely manages to crawl. “Traffic is so slow that you can hardly move and with so much crowd you do feel nervous sometimes,� says Archana Yadav, a student at Karamat College, Nishatganj.
“I have been waiting for a bus for 45 minutes now ... all the buses are so crowded that I dare not step in,� says Savita Yadav, another student of the same College.
The vendors have their woes, too. “Earlier, we were under the Nagar Nigam, now private contractors have been given the charge, and we have to dole out exorbitant amount of money for them,� rues Chote Babu who has been setting up stall here for 35 years. “Whether you sell anything or not, you still have to pay,� he adds - A problem that is cited by all the vendors present at the weekly market.