With a mini-kitchen set up on a table and ingredients stacked in the boot of their omni-van, Munniratna and her daughter Suhasini Dhondalay, dished out tasty ragi rotis to visitors at a first-of-its kind car boot sale in the city held at the Sirur Playground in Malleswaram on Saturday. This was their debut cooking attempt for people outside their family, and going by the demand, it was a success.
Like them, around 70 others drove into the playground around 11 a.m. and opened the trunks of their cars to reveal all the goods they had to sell.
“This is a great opportunity for us. My mother’s ragi rotis, made in the traditional manner, are famous in the family. When we heard about this car boot sale, we did not want to miss the opportunity of participating. So we branded ourselves as Munni’s kitchen,” said Ms. Dhondalay.
The sale received a good mix of first-time sellers and established entrepreneurs. From readymade garments to children’s books, shoes, jewellery, foods items, plants, and even second-hand electronic goods, there was something for everyone.
The organiser of the event, Prashanth Nayak, also got fresh pineapples and pepper from his estate in Coorg to sell. “I am also selling produce from our estate for the first time,” he said.
On how he and his friend Rajiv Athreya got the idea, Mr. Nayak said, “It was through my sister, who was in the U.K., that I heard about this concept. Though popular in western countries, it has hardly been tried here. It is more economical for both sellers and buyers than regular flea markets.”
For Tracy Yach and Sanjay Madiraju, the sale was more of an opportunity to get rid of things they no longer required. “We clutter our homes with items we don’t need. This is a great opportunity to get rid of them,” said Ms. Yach, who sold home décor items.
Calling it a great concept, Rashmi K., a visitor, said most of the products on sale were affordable. “The sale has a good mix of everything. I hope we have more of these car boot sales in the city.”
Mr. Nayak, founder of Pratam Events, wishes to conduct this sale once every month in different parts of the city. “The response has been encouraging and we would like this to become a regular event.”
