Rakhi Bazaar: a Photo essay

Each time I go to Manek chowk in Ahmedabad, the streets look different, completely different. The last time I went there, it was around the Holi festival and you could tell that Holi was just around the corner, because everywhere, you saw the Pichkaris and the holi colours. If you were to go there in January, around the Sankranti festival, there’s kites everywhere!! And, Diwali time, it’s fire crackers and the paper lanterns and all kinds of lights! The more I see of Manek chowk, the more I wonder about its innate nature to absorb, to adapt. It seems to soak in whatever happens in the city – if people celebrate Holi, the streets of Manek chowk celebrate Holi; if people celebrate Diwali, the streets of Manek chowk are lights and firecrackers!

And right now, it’s the Raksha Bandhan festival and there’s Rakhis everywhere! It’s like seeing the reflection of nature in water…whatever is outside is there inside the water, nothing more, nothing less.

Related Posts:
Holi Bazaar

Life in the Streets

'Life in the Streets' is a 4-day workshop for architecture students and young professionals to be held at Dakshinachitra, Chennai from 15th to 18th aug 2013. The focus of the workshop is to develop a “way of seeing” the Indian Street that accepts and understands that while the Street is ‘Connector’ (meant for people and cars to move) it also enables social, cultural, religious, political, and economic practices that are unique to our country. How can we bring about small changes in our perception and that of others through documenting ‘how people use street space’ and interpreting the observations in the context of how our cities are developing?

The workshop begins with sessions that help look at our streets and neighbourhoods differently. There are walking tours to observe and document experiences through photographs, films, sketches, diary accounts, maps and interviews. The urban practices that are documented are analysed through brain-storming sessions as well as discussions on key issues that emerge. Finally, the participants rethink and replan a Street with the collective knowledge that the workshop brings about. While the core audience is architecture students, students from disciplines that engage with public spaces are also welcome to apply, such as design, social sciences, etc.

To register, write to: mcfindia@gmail.com or call Ms.Vishalam at ph: 044 24462435 / 24918943. For a detailed programme, check out: www.facebook.com/groups/lifeinthestreetsindia/

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Water melons and Street space

There is ‘Street Space’ and there is ‘Virtual Space’ and watermelons are there both places. Some people find the time to walk the Street and to bargain over a watermelon purchase. Others prefer to sit at the computer and order it online at the click of a button. It is about how much time you have. What does this mean? Why is it that people in some cities have more time and some have less time? Why are people in some places called “laid-back”and are easy-going and unhurried? What gives time its value?

In his book, ‘A Geography of Time’, Robert Levine points out that cities and cultures across the world seem to keep time a bit differently from one another. In his research, Levine works towards getting objective indicators of the pace of life. He measures people’s walking speed, their talking speed and their work speed. He finds that places that have warmer climates tend to have a slower pace of life. Places that are economically vital tend to be faster. The vital economy puts pressure on people to make every moment count.

Coming back to the watermelons, when does one order them online? When we don’t have the time to go out to shop for them on the street? An image of it becomes available for us in virtual space, to see and to order. No real space is used. But, the watermelons that are delivered to our homes are real and they need to be stored in real space before the final dispatch happens. These watermelons occupy real space, but not street space. This does not mean that cities where the pace of life is faster have streets that are empty with everything being bought or sold in virtual space.

On one side of the Krishnarao Park at Basavanagudi in Bangalore, there sits a watermelon vendor occupying a huge part of the footpath there. Perhaps, it is the wide footpath and the proximity to Krishnarao Park that makes this an attractive location for him. It is anyway a matter of a few months only. Watermelons are a seasonal fruit and he will not occupy this space forever. But, these watermelons change the visual landscape of the street.

You walk through almost any street in the Gandhi Bazaar or Basavanagudi area and there isn’t a dull moment. We do not in India need to plan for an “active street edge” as some cities in western countries do. Here, we have them already. What we do need to do is to figure out how we can smoothen the conflict between what street space belongs to the car, what belongs to the pedestrian and what belongs to the vendor. How does one do that?

Trade and Commerce in Bangalore District

A few days ago, I was going through the ‘Bangalore District Gazetteer’. The 'oldness' and the 'dustiness' of the Gazetteer just seemed to add to the authenticity of a "gazetteer". The stories were mostly likeable bringing in a sense of wonder and revealing a past that I did not know. I looked for “markets” and “bazaars” on its index page. Sharing here some excerpts from it – the ones that I found most interesting were the ones with names of localities in the city that we know today but are so completely transformed from the “old days”, for instance, it talks of Sarjapur as being “noted for Muslin cloth” and so on. So, here we go…

a Betel nut shop in Mysore, 2010

“Bangalore grew in importance after its development by the Kempegowda family who made it their capital by strengthening it with a fort and providing for various streets meant for the craftsmen and various groups of traders. Chikkadevaraj Wodeyar of Mysore (1672-1704) after getting Bangalore as ‘jahgir’ from Mughals encouraged trading activity by introducing uniform weights and measures and postal services for the first time. By then, separate markets were built for different trades viz. Aralepete for weavers and sari merchants, Akkipete for rice merchants, Nagarthapete for goldsmiths, Doddapete for wholesale, Chickpete for retail, etc.”

“The travel account of Buchanan who visited Bangalore in 1800 gives an exhaustive account of trading and commercial activities of Bangalore. According to him, apart from Bangalore, neighbouring villages like Agara, Halasur, Hesaraghatta, Varthur and Kengeri were centres of brisk wholesale trade. Sarjapur near Anekal was noted for Muslin cloth. Saries manufactured at Aralepete were famous throughout the State and were exported to far off places like Mangalore, Bellary, Bombay and other places near sea ports.”

“From other sources (a missionary’s chronicle) it is learnt that in the days of Haider and Tipu, in addition to salt, sulphur, indigo, tamarind, caustic soda, alum, zinc, lac, wax, gum and arsenic were brought from Madras. Flower and betel leaves came from Attibele. Betel leaves also came from Mysore and Harihar. Indigo came from Anekal and Bommasandra, kamblis (country blankets) from Kamblipura in Anekal taluk. Salem and Pondicherry had regular trade connections with Bangalore during 18th century. Tanjore merchants sold pearls in Bangalore and took back cash.”

“During the period of Bowring (1862-67) important roads connecting Bangalore with Kadur, Hassan, Hoskote, Kadapa, Hosur and Bellary were constructed, railway links were established with Madras (1864) with Channapatna (1881) with Tumkur (1884) and finally connecting with Bombay promoting rail-road traffic of goods and passengers.”

“During 1934-35 sandalwood oil from Bangalore was exported to London, Japan and Australia. By 1934-35, the local tobacco co. (Tobacco Manufacturers India) used to export cigars valued at Rs. 1 ½ crores to Bombay, Calcutta and Delhi. A record of 1940 reveals that cattle shows were held at Bangalore and this was usually at Sampangi tank. Conducting annual market shows was a regular feature, where exhibits of good products were appreciated and rewarded. Mutton shows were organized in January every year, at the Russell market.”

Now, a bit of the curiosity is satiated but some other questions… “tanjore merchants sold pearls in Bangalore and took back cash” what is the pearl trade like now??! Or “cattle shows at Sampangi tank” – would someone still have pictures of that??!

Reference: Kamath, Suryakant. Bangalore District: Karnataka State Gazetteer, Gazetteer of India, Government of Karnataka, 1990