Twenty-four-year-old Shashi Kumar has fond memories of his childhood in the Madivala market where his father was once a vegetable vendor. Today, the stall still remains, his family's only means of sustenance. There are many like him spread across this expansive 30-year-old market, which stretches across one kilometre, and houses more than 300 vendors.
The market exists in a traditional organisational pattern. Divided into two tiers, the first tier is an exhibition of fresh flowers, fruits, coconuts and fish. The second tier is exclusively reserved for vegetables. Some pockets of the market specialise in traditional spices, incense sticks, snacks and local herbs.
At a time of spiralling inflation, most customers feel the market is easy on their pockets.
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Someone like, 65-year-old Gita Shastri has been a regular to this market ever since her family shifted to Koramangala some 25 years ago.
“I have developed a personal relationship with many vendors here. I get quality vegetables and the prices are reasonable,” says Gita.
Buried behind a heap of potatoes, Jaffer Showkat, another vendor, says, “Customers from as far as Sarjarpur, Malleswaram and Chandapura come to this market due to its balance of quality and economy.”
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Missing middlemen
He adds that as the traders get most of their products daily from Yeshwanthpur and K.R. Market, they are able to ensure perennial supply of fresh products. Another significant feature of the market is its immunity from the infringement of middlemen in spite of being the beehive of economic activity in Madivala.