Street vendors of Pondy Bazaar

I may be writing this post a little late. But I thought I should write about it. When I went to Pondy Bazaar yesterday, there was something unusual about the decrease in crowd near the bazaar. Little did I know there was a huge shock waiting for me once I walked a few yards. The footpath vendors were totally gone! Yes, you read it right. The vendors, their shops, their wares were all gone.

Street vendors' stalls removed

To give a brief history, Pondy Bazaar is famous for its street vendors who sell
anything from ear rings, bangles, clips, shoes, sandals, bags, covers, books, curtains to dresses, toys etc. You name it, you get it cheap (of course, with a little bargain) was the mantra of these vendors. Though annoying at certain times, when you want to walk past it (all you see is women of all age surrounding each shop who do not leave way for the walkers-by) it was a thriving little economy. A variety of items, with all shops so close to each other that make comparing of goods so easy for the shopper. Inevitably, I end up peeking into one or two shops and buying an item when I never intended to shop for. :-) 

Many a times I have thought and even cursed a few times “why don’t these vendors move to the adjacent building which was constructed by the Government to provide a more permanent structure, there by reducing the traffic on the road”. Only when they did move, I realize maybe I was thinking wrong. Now the streets seem empty to me.

Empty Pondy bazaar

The adjacent building where the shops have been moved to doesn’t seem that inviting to me. There are three floors in the building I think and each floor divided into three blocks. There are no signs of which shops are on what floors. The place is in utter chaos

Building where the street vendors have been relocated

The shop owners are still in the process of shifting their business. A few have started their business. The shops are scattered, nobody knows where a particular kind of shop is. I encountered unexpected walls at few turns where I thought there would be stalls and few shops where I thought there was no way to turn. The situation might be different a few months from now. I intend to check it after a month.

Shopping @ New building

After taking a few photos of the empty paths, the new building, I started on my way home when I realized I don’t have photos of those shops when the streets were full with beaming business. Maybe an era has come to an end; or maybe after a few months, there will be new shops that could be setup on those same footpaths. If new shops pop up, then this whole shifting would be an exercise in futile. I just have to wait and see what happens in the future.