The beginning of winter in the city is marked by the arrival of Tibetan families from across the country who set up a Tibetan Refugee Market on Gandhi Nagar Road, selling a variety of woollen apparels.
Nearly 17 stalls have been set up on Sambamurthy Road in Gandhi Nagar, with each stall being run by members of a single family. With the increase in demand for woollen clothes in the season, the market sees substantial footfall as the apparels here are available at affordable prices.
The market is generally set up in October, every year and the Tibetan families stay here till the end of January selling woollen goods in the hope of making a decent profit.
“We sell winter clothes within the range of ₹200 to ₹5,000, depending on the quality of the product. Most of us take loans from cooperative banks to buy clothes in bulk from Delhi during the off-season and sell them here at low prices for the convenience of customers,” said Tenzing Dorjee, a 50-year-old merchant.
Tenzing Dorjee’s family fled Tibet to take refuge in India in 1959. He now lives in Chandragiri, Odisha, with his wife and three children. Every year, Dorjee, accompanied by his friends, comes to Vijayawada with a van full of garments. “We set up shops not only here but also in Guntur, Eluru, Bhimavaram and Khammam,” he said.
Unpleasant experiences
While the traders have been coming to the city for decades now, some of them say they have to deal with unpleasant experiences sometimes, especially the younger women.
“I have been setting up my stall here for 10 years now but the prejudice among the residents is sometimes all too apparent. We get weird looks from the men and are often subjected to catcalls from youths. But we just ignore them and focus on our business,” said T. Sonam, a 29-year-old salesgirl.
The vendors said that this year’s turnover is likely to be less than that of last year. “The margin of profit varies every year. The previous year, each family had earned a profit of almost ₹4 lakh but this time, we feel we might incur
losses due to irregular weather patterns and customers’ disinterest in purchasing our commodities,” said Ms. Sonam.
