It's always a hot day at the Bazaar. The air is thick with moisture, but it's filled with a bubbly kind of excitement. What's real great is to come here just an hour after dawn and see the fresh produce being unloaded and stocked.
You can see the women rounding up some cilantro with strings, and mint being tied, the fresh ginger being thrown into bunches in baskets, the tomatoes in another basket, the potatoes in another, and the fresh melons being divided, and then wrapped.
You can hear the bedlam of women shouting, attracting attention to their stalls, men busy haggling meat, the groaning of the trucks as they unload the new batches of vegetables, meats, lentils, and fruits.
You can smell the clean fresh scent of the vegetables, whereas the spice corner of the bazaar is filled with a hot and spicy aroma. The mats are wearing a colourful skirt of green, as they are covered with fresh mint and cilantro; you can even see the dirt clinging to their roots, they are that fresh.
The tables are decorated with a bright disarray of spices, emitting a warm aroma. Every inch of space is occupied with something. The excitement of children getting their sweets, their peals of laughter, the exclamations of tourists looking at the startling scene before them, the bored expressions of the teenagers, and the smiling, waiting faces of crazy photographers like me, looking at the huge bazaar before me, and just itching to get some snaps — all make up the true meaning of a bazaar.
So get out of your hot and sticky day, and spend some time being a true Indian, haggling, arguing, and best of all, having fun!
Get some crazy snaps, post them on your favourite blog, hang out with some friends, and get your fill of an ordinary, extraordinary day in India.
Sneha Sunil is a Std IX student
