Thursday, May 3, 2012

chor bazaar

Th best part of writing nt hose times was that i was gong to new places and trying to figure out what i felt about it. Writing forces you to say something about something..... i would never have remembered going to any of these places if i had not written about it.... all that remains of what i was thinking or not thinking is the remains of these pages...

and this is the infamours chor bazaar...the theives market.... it was said dont takes your car there, cause you will have to buy back your hub caps.....

                                                            CHOR BAZAAR
           
                 Let your imagination fly.   There’s adventure, romance and excitement at Bombay’s Chor Bazaar.   You get everything you can possibly think of-a little rusted, a little used, a little old.   But it’s all there – you find it after exciting exploring-and it’s cheaper than usual.
                There’s a casualness around that one could never get in crowded bazaars; in big, fancy shops; or on the streets.   Shop-keepers sleep with the most beautiful antiques around them; the continuous hawking   “come to my shop” is absent.   It’s as if everyone knows you are just shopping around, so why bother.
                A sample of things you get here:  antique lamps, crystal perfume bottles,  projectors record players, shows, door knobs, saris, khaki shirts, car parts, transistors, parts for complicated machines, chains, huge pots, trunks, desks, pendants, broken guitars, old typewriters.   You can get anything you want if you look for it.
                People advise,   “Don’t buy anything unless you have someone along who really knows the quality of the stuff you are buying.”   This is specially true of gadgets.   A camera that is being sold for Rs. 20, which you priced at a store for Rs. 75, may not be worth even a rupee.   It may also be a great bargain.   But you’ll need to know the difference.
                People advise,   “Don’t go there by car.   When you come back from your shopping spree your hub caps will be gone.   And you’ll have to buy them back for five rupees from the shop next door.”
                I went walking.   You can start your Mohammed Ali Road (where you get the best kababs at the cheapest prices) or from Crawford Market.   Just ask every fifth shop how to get there.
               There’s something magical about the name.   You as  “Chor Bazaar kaha hai?” and the shopkeeper’s face lights up,  he quickly comes out of his cubby hole, waves his arms around, twists his nose and tells you how to get there.   You are never, never misdirected.
               You amble down three or four lanes to an aviary, leave two lanes behind and the next four gulleys are Chor Bazaar.
              It’s easy to start off methodically.   You start down the first lane with its antiques and furniture, but before you know it you are down side lanes and alleys, finding the adventure you were looking for.
           

          
             Shops have full generations working in them.   The grandfather will be snoozing on the charpai, the son looking after the selling, the father banging out some new pieces that have come in.
            The fun lies in going in and out the gulleys for a whole afternoon.  
            There’s one lane that’s full of car parts and all sorts of tiny mechanical components for big industrial machines.   Engineers who have started their own small factories often shop for their spare parts here.   Students come here to pick up parts to make their own transistor radios.
           If you can’t find what you want one day, you try the next week.   New stock comes in on Fridays.
           People say that about half the stuff is “Chori ka maal”   (stolen things)   Shopkeepers say that they buy from auctions in mass quantities, from old houses that can no longer be maintained.   Things like old clothes and shoes come from the people who go from house to house bartering steel utensils for old clothes.   The clothes are washed and repaired and sold at Chor Bazaar.
           Men’s clothes are a specially good buy.   There are T-shirts, khaki jackets, and strong cotton pants.   They aren’t the height of fashion.   But they are strong, hardy and would look smart if a smart person wore them.
           There are shops coming up now that are modern and slick.   They don’t deal with old, thrown out material but with vinyl covered table tops and middle class furniture.   There are still only a few of them, but they lack the charm of the old shops.
            You can’t come out of the bazaar without buying some little thing.   You also come out with a feeling that you have discovered something or met some interesting people.
             It’s that charm that brings someone like me who hates the thought of shopping, back to Chor Bazaar.