Bazaar Tour 3 : Varkala, Kerala

This post is a part of the series on Bazaar Tours in India. For those travelling to Varkala, in Kerala, soaking in the experiences at the Cliff Bazaar overlooking the sea makes up a large part of one's stay at Varkala. You can walk along the cliff in the morning and lounge at a breakfast cafe, you can meander into its many craft shops in the afternoon and you can stroll there in the evening again and leave only after a sumptuous dinner.

If Varkala were to have a daily tabloid – a newspaper for only its Cliff Bazaar visitors, what would it say to its readers? "The Varkala of Tourist Times" would need to carry news about the beach – the groups that conducted yoga that day, the fishermen and the catch of the day! It would be nice to sit at a Café, buy the Cliff daily and read about the happenings of the day. Who baked the best bread? Which restaurant bought the best catch from what fishermen? How many people attended the Kathakali dance performance – a daily event on the cliff during the “season”. Who won the beach volleyball match? The real estate market in Varkala Cliff zone. The Kashmiri takeover on the Tibetan market and so on.

For this newspaper to be viable, it would need to carry advertisements. So, there would be half-page and full-page ads from restaurants, from Arts emporia and from Massage Centers. That brings us to the question : What does an advertisment do and what does signage do?

Advertisements today are in our newspapers, our magazines, our televisions and on our hoardings. Signage takes two forms or rather two locations. It is immediately next to where the commodity or service is, asserting its presence and it is sometimes and often at an important junction elsewhere, with an arrow leading us to its actual place of existence. The shops at the Bazaar would then begin to offer discounts. The newspaper would carry ads announcing festival discounts and season discounts. It would be an unusual and exciting daily - a newspaper of the town, of the tourists and of the bazaar.

I came back from Varkala and what came back with me were memories of the lovely moments with Puppu, a Tibetan woman at the Cliff Bazaar, at whose shop I had spent a part of my afternoon. You can read here about the Tibetan market at Varkala

Other Varkala posts :
Signage in Cliff Bazaar
Once upon a time, there were no signs
Signages at Varkala, Signages anywhere
To the Cliff
and
Cafe Italiano & the Badam tree

Other Bazaar tours in India :
Bazaar Tour 1 : Dadar Flower Market, Mumbai
Bazaar Tour 2 : Antique market, Mumbai
Bazaar Tour 4 : Gandhi Bazaar, Bangalore

Signages at Varkala, Signages anywhere

At some time, signage begins to merge with advertising. A trader needs to announce what he has. He also needs to announce that what he has is better than what another has. Several traders sell the same commodity. How he “packages” and how he “signages” begin to matter. The bazaar in Varkala stretches itself along the 2 km long laterite cliff and has a spectacular view of the Lakshadweep Sea. The signages sit against the backdrop of the aquamarine waters and the green coconut palms.

The role of the user in a Bazaar is an important one. When this target audience or user is an indian, his aesthetic sense prefers the modern, the contemporary. When the user is a foreign visitor, his aesthetic sense for the moment, prefers the “indian” and the “tradtional”. During the season, the months of December and January, Varkala is populated with Europeans and Americans. Some come for a short stay, to enjoy the beach. Others come for a long stay, to learn yoga and meditation. Since the foreigner pays a better price for both commodity and service, the signages and packaging must often reflect his tastes. How does a local Varkala trader know what these tastes are? He asks, He learns. There is a hidden story in Signages at Varkala, as in Signages anywhere.

Other Varkala posts :
Bazaar Tour 3 - Varkala
The Tibtetans at the Cliff
Signage in Cliff Bazaar
Once upon a time, there were no signs
To the Cliff
and
Cafe Italiano & the Badam Tree

Signage in Cliff Bazaar

It of course begins with the common “To the cliff” painted on wood in many different ways at the many junctions one encounters as paths wind their way to the beach and the cliff. Once you are on the cliff, there are signs that say German Bakery or Ayurvedic massage. A restaurant has its own kind of signs. Quite often, it is a blackboard. It does seem like an all-time favourite. You can wipe it clean every day and your signage is for now, only for today! It is always new, never more than one-day old.

Then, there are signs that are for longer, but are also hand-made. These are the wooden signages that tell you that here is your german bakery and your thai cuisine. The wooden signs are attractive because they are hand-crafted and one of a kind. They do not use printing technology and are very pleasing to the eye.

There are places for ancient arts like Kathakali and the ayurvedic massage centres. Their signboards are always in vinyl – the most modern of signage material. The art is ancient enough, the sign must be contemporary and with the times? The vinyl ones are also popular because they can be lit from behind. As the sun sets and the cliff & sea plunge into darkness, the vinyl signs are visible in entirety. The cliff bazaar at night is lit from lights within the crafts shops and without. The path that meanders by the cliff also has lamp-posts in cast-iron. But then, the cast-iron lamp-posts sometimes work and sometimes not. In the dark of the night, in Varkala, some signs you read, some you don’t. Early next morning, as you walk along the cliff, there is light everywhere. Once again, you read everything. That which is there, and that which is not.

Other Varkala posts :
Bazaar Tour 3 : Varkala
The Tibtetans at the Cliff
To the Cliff
Once upon a time, there were no signs
Signages at Varkala, Signages anywhere
and
Cafe Italiano & the Badam tree

the Tibetans at the Cliff

Varkala has a large tibetan market within its Cliff Bazaar. One passes by ‘Tibetan Buddha Arts’ – the shop where Dorjee and Puppu sell their crafts. You retrace your steps and look again at the bead necklaces and the embroidered textiles. You need to go into the shop. As you step in, you hear some music. Now, you need to continue to look at the crafts or pretend to because you want to listen to the music longer. It is the music of “Lama Chopa” – a buddhist Tantric celebration… The music goes on and on and Puppu continues to smile at you every time you look towards her. It must be a nice people, who listen to music such as this. A people for whom living in India means living closer to the Dalai Lama.

You look at her once again and ask about the music, and also about the beautiful beadwork that she strings together with her own hands. The Tibetan woman speaks of her business in Varkala. She and her husband came here six years ago from Tibet. There were not as many shops then and the rents were not so high. Today, they pay Rs.85,000 as rent and Rs.12,000 for electricity for the six month period. The municipality demands Rs.5,000 for being a part of the bazaar. It totals to almost one lakh and that works out to Rs.17,000 per month. Earnings must come also from this six month period since that is “season time”. From mid-november to mid-may is when tourists come to Varkala. The rest of the year, few shops in the Bazaar function. Most of the shops close down.

Dorjee and Puppu go away to Delhi to purchase crafts for the next season, and to Darjeeling to pick up their children who go to boarding school there and then to Ladakh. They come back again next year, with most of their earnings spent. Tibetan Buddha Arts sells bead necklaces, bracelets, earrings, singing bowls, tibetan incense for meditation, cloth handbags and metal crafts.

Other Varkala posts :
Bazaar Tour 3 - Varkala
Signage in Cliff Bazaar
Once upon a time, there were no signs
Signages at Varkala, Signages anywhere
To the Cliff
and
Cafe Italiano & the Badam tree

the Bazaar grows

In Varkala, as elsewhere, the bazaar grows, it flourishes. It responds willingly to every dynamic change in interest from those who come here to buy. The bazaar sells only that which people wish to buy. Now, there are also little convenience stores that sell cigarettes and shampoo and potato chips. These come up within this cliff bazaar like ‘pan shops’ do in our street corners. They sell mineral water too. Sometimes, there is a “supermarket” that has within it the cigarettes and the shampoo and the german bakery plus a bookshop selling second-hand books. The second-hand books are the ones that tourists have left behind in Varkala for other tourists to read.

One looks at the shops and the tourist cottages in Varkala and one is reminded of Goa. There is also an organic growth of resorts, craft shops and cafetarias in Goa, especially on the way to Calangute beach. The use of natural materials in the building of shops and cafes is common to both – Goa & Kerala.

'To the cliff'

‘To the cliff’ and ‘To the beach’ are signs so common. You know this must be the most important part of Varkala. It is also where the Bazaar is. You move in the direction of the sea. The cliff runs along the coastline, along the beach. Varkala, in Kerala, is probably one of the only ‘On the Cliff Bazaars’ in India, facing the sea. There are cafes, restaurants and the many colours of the indian textiles that the foreigners fill their moments with. The restaurant tables have cane chairs that face only in one direction, towards the waters.

The many craft shops that the bazaar has, are interspersed with ayurvedic treatment centres too. And, there are the several “German Bakery” boards everywhere as you walk along the cliff. They sell wholewheat bread and croissants and cinnamon rolls. There are the “internet cafes” and the “STD booth”. There’s the sign that says ‘Oriental Food Court’ or ‘Foods of the Orient – Specialities of Thailand’. There are one or two places that serve Kerala meals. Varkala has the sun, the sand and the sea. It also has the cliff, the tourists and the bazaar.

Other Varkala posts :
Bazaar Tour 3 : Varkala
The Tibtetans at the Cliff
Signage in Cliff Bazaar
Once upon a time, there were no signs
Signages at Varkala, Signages anywhere
and
Cafe Italiano & the Badam tree