Indian shop - 2

There has been a profound and rapid change in how commerce has evolved in India in the last twenty-five years. The growth of the retail industry has created new opportunities for the discerning Indian entrepreneur. The livelihood scenario that belongs to the Indian shop has changed from artisans who crafted and marketed brass pots to traders who sell plastic buckets and sintex tanks. Today, one finds traditional shopping environments that continue to sell fruits, vegetables and puja items as well as the modern shopping environments, where multi-national companies sell brands that compete in the international fashion market.

And less evident to consumers, shopping environments today present a clearer demarcation of wholesale and retail spaces, quite different from how it was in the old bazaars. This has created efficiencies in the way a modern market economy understands them, through ideas of ‘division of labour’, ‘specialisation’, and so on, but it has also expanded the distance between the people whose lives and livelihoods are scattered along the supply chain. Equally noteworthy is another kind of social distance - the segregation of residences and segregation of purchase environments that is now becoming the norm. Whereas rich and poor alike lived and shopped in the same marketplaces in the past, increasingly the modern retail environment is premised upon distinguishing between the two.

Against this backdrop, the Indian shop can be a collective memory of times past, and also an expression of the aspirations of today. Within bazaars and malls, one can look for and trace the cultural, sociological and aesthetic forms that are still evident in the patterns of commerce and trade, and the changes they are undergoing. One searches for a modern perspective for the architectural design of Indian shopping environments – the bazaars and the malls. The shop is a place of private consumption, and has been so for long. But, what used to be ‘private consumption in public spaces’ is increasingly giving way to ‘private consumption in private spaces’.

Indian shop

As the many faces of the Indian shop are revealed, one discovers a little more about the economics of trade as well as the social and cultural values of the Indian society. In previous blogposts, I have shared observations on the Fruit and Vegetable market, the Marketplace, the Fish market, the Street bazaar, the Informal sector, the Bakery and the Canal bazaar. This blog also includes notes on shopping environments such as the Weekly market, the Flower market, a Spice bazaar, the Tibetan Bazaar in Kerala and the Mall.

What is the difference between Lad Bazaar in Hyderabad and the Forum Mall in Bangalore? What are the exchange systems or price mechanisms of antique shops in Chor Bazaar in Mumbai that can be compared to the Malaysian Imported Furniture showrooms in Chennai? Is there more competition among sellers in Palika Bazaar in Delhi, than in a Satellite road mall in Ahmedabad?

Will the modern Big Bazaar's “Bargain offers” entice indians enough to forego their ritual of bargaining in a street bazaar? What does the experience of shopping in Manek chowk in Ahmedabad mean to a gujarati family? Why does Connaught Place in Delhi have popular eateries that cater to young indians with western tastes? Why does Ashram road in Ahmedabad have a blend of old and new as it hosts a Pizza outlet at one road junction and makes equally good business with the small bhel-puri stalls that dot the footpath?

Bazaar in a Temple town

I think that trade in present-day temple towns is as much for international tourists as for the local or domestic pilgrims who come from nearby towns or neighbouring states. As you walk along the Chengam road in Tiruvannamalai, the temple town which is 185 km from Chennai (Tamil Nadu) and 210 km from Bangalore (Karnataka) you see the ‘Tibetan Gifts Store - Manufacturer & Wholesaler for Tibetan Jewellery, Pashmina shawls, Carpets, Cloths, etc’. There is also the ‘Authorised Forex Money Changers-Indian Boutique’ that sells postcards and cotton blouses that foreigners visiting India often buy. This is on one side of the Chengam road.

Sandalwood paste and other puja items for sale near the Meenakshi Temple in Madurai

On the other side, you see Muggulu or Kolam – freshly done floral motifs in rice powder on earth that has been settled with sprinkling of water by the lady of the house. There is the shack of the local paan-shop that continues to exist, outside one of the community water tanks or the shop ‘Manjula Coffee bar’ with the traditional copper container for the filter coffee – a container that is smeared with ash and red kumkum. The acrylic board above the shop entrance advertises ‘Brooke Bond 3 Roses Tea’.

There’s the Tailor shop and the Ironing shop inside a remnant of a stone pillared pavilion along the roadside. Further down, another tailoring shop called the ‘Swiss’ Tailor next to the ‘Ellora Hair Style’ housed in a concrete structure, its frontage protected by the shade of a peepal tree. Under this tree, a stone ganesha idol with turmeric powder all over it. Its only one of the many little shrines that one would find if one walked the Arunagiri path around the mountain in this temple town.

Consumer and Cultural relationships

I came across this website about an interesting concept. An excerpt from the site :

"A major cross-art form project exploring the new consumer and cultural relationships that are emerging as the economic centre of the world shifts towards the East. The project includes exhibitions, off site presentations, performance, film and a range of events and activities.

Far West will transform Arnolfini from an arts venue into a Concept Store, providing a unique shopping experience, exploring consumer and cultural relationships produced by the shifting of the economic centre of the world towards the East.

Part store, part Chinese-style tourist museum, part forum for consumer reflection, Far West provides customers with the experience of interacting with, producing and then purchasing, a selection of specially branded and exclusive products, ranging from ornaments to music, comics, toys, food, and artworks. In the process, customers will get an insight into the changing nature of economy, cultural hegemony, the history of certain products, and the marketing potential of regional identities.

Far West's theatrical setting, designed in collaboration with Miessen & Ploughfields Architects, Michael Lin and Gunilla Klingberg, opens up the parallel debates in both art and commerce around participation, individualism, authorship, labour, and productivity."

A link to FAR WEST