Wednesday, November 3, 2010

The market place

Love to go to the market. I remember the days when I used to go to the Byculla wholesale vegetable market with my dad. You can’t buy anything less than 5 kg in the mornings and in the evenings it was 2.5 kg minimum. (now that market has been shifted to Vashi in Navi Mumbai )

One can imagine how the markets were about a century ago. It must have been more of a barter. This is an old market scene at Shaniwar wada.

Down south if you go to the market you will get a view like this:


Now a days I go to the open market here in Pune (with my camera)
There is no saying what opportunities come up. Like I realized that dogs like to go to the market. I mean which dog won’t like it if it is going to be carried around.

Or if it is the mango season, it is nice to see raw mangoes being cut for pickle.

The sight of fresh Ginger and Garlic is something that cannot be missed:
Ginger and Garlic

Apart from buying fresh vegetables and fruits, it is interesting to observe the customers who haggle with the shop keepers. And there are some customers who have their fixed shopkeepers. Like we know one guy whom we call “Lord of the Rings”
Yes he is a vegetable seller and he has some items which is not kept by other shop keepers like Chena (Yam) Chembu (Colocasia/Taro) etc.
So when wifey hands me the list of things that I have to buy, she adds “and buy the chena from the Lord of the Rings”
In fact it was I who christened this guy as “The Lord of the Rings” because he was covered from head to toe with gold ornaments.
His domain
(click on the above picture to see the chunks of chain that he is wearing, along with his earing)
And all his fingers had rings. It was with great difficulty that I managed to click his photograph, because I had no idea how he would react to being clicked. So I pretended that I was clicking the tomatoes and took a long shot and later zoomed in and cropped the part showing his rings.
Lord of the rings
I have this habit of taking prints and giving them a copy of the print. It is worth it to see the smile on their face when they see themselves in print. Like this one that I took



and then in the next week I handed over a print to the lady who was in the forefront of the picture. She could not believe that she was the one in the print,


and she handed it over to her colleague who was all smiles on seeing the picture. Meanwhile our lady here was dying of embarrassment. May be she has never been clicked at her workplace.


Then there was this vegetable seller who said “why don’t you click me” So I did just that, which looked like this:

So I did some cleaning up of his stall to make his surrounding look respectable and came up with this:

Two weeks later I handed him that print and this is how he reacted.

Then he wanted me to click him with the picture in his hand !!

But I have yet to hand over the picture of the “Lord of the Rings” (like I said he is very burly and I am wary of his reaction)

By the way I Googled for marketplace and came up with my own picture which I clicked about 4 years ago.

57 comments:

walk2write said...

The market looks like a wonderful, lively place to spend some time and money. Your pics make the atmosphere come to life. There are so many times I want to take pics of people in different situations and then post them but usually don't because I'm afraid of getting into trouble or being yelled at. Many people don't like their photos published on the web, so like you, I might take a pic of someone's hands or back or feet. At least most of the vendors at your market seem like friendly folk.

Mental said...

true photographer instinct! the other day...i went to mg road with a few hostel friends...i had a camera in my hand...i looked at camp like never before!
guess that's the magic of a camera!

Christine H. said...

Thanks for posting this. I feel as if I had been there, that's how wonderful your photos are. I took some photos of sellers in a farmers' market in Paris and thought I was going to get killed. One man was very unhappy about this, which was captured in the picture. Yikes. Actually none of the people I photographed at french farmers' markets were thrilled about it. I love your pictures and description of the Lord of the Rings.

Rajesh said...

Great shots of the market.

RGB said...

Interesting pics & passtime! Lord of the Rings, indeed ;p

dr.antony said...

fruity post,colorful too.
I loved this post.
Your star has done well,
He doesnt look as if he is acting!

Tomz said...

nice post haddock

Quay Po Cooks said...

Haddock,

Thanks for dropping by mu blog and take time to leave your comment. You have an interesting post here and some wonderful pictures of the market place. They are fabulous picture and I like the one with the lady feeling embarrassed:D Thanks for sharing.

A Plain Observer said...

thank you for the visit.
This market reminds me of the way it was in my country Colombia when I was growing up. Now, you dont find a market like this anymore, they are replaced by supercenters with cash registers and technology. *sigh* nothing like to walk around and smell the scent of fruit and not an aircontionered atmosphere.

Cezar and Léia said...

I'm always looking for new flavours and this market looks fabulous, the right place to find interesting and delicious stuffs!
Léia

Felicity Grace Terry said...

Look at how vibrant those colours are - we never seem to get anything this colour here OR if we do you can be sure it is full of artificial additives/colourings.

Pat @ Mille Fiori Favoriti said...

Thank you for visiting my blog and leaving a nice comment! I enjoyed looking at your blog and the wonderful marketplace photos you took. It was fun to see how happy and surprised the vendors were to have their photo taken. The hand with all the rings is such an interesting photo!

Connie said...

I really enjoyed your photos, Joe. The marketplace there looks so colorful and cheerful. I love the smiles on the faces of those you took a picture of and then shared with them. They seemed quite pleased with the prints.

Lisa said...

This was really interesting I am so happy you came to my blog so I would have a chance to find yours.

I think I would be VERY nerves giving the "Lord of the Rings" his photo too. I don't know I was just nerves for you. I LOVED see the reaction of the woman seller and the vegetable seller cracked me up!

GREAT POST!

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Hilary said...

What a great market place. I'll bet the smells are wonderful around the garlic and ginger, and I love the hanging pineapples. I think it's a great idea that you print out and hand over the photos to the subjects. It makes the whole event more interactive.

Thanks for your visit to my blog today. :)

ellen abbott said...

What a wonderful market. I would love to wander around there.

thanks for visiting me.

NRIGirl said...

Loved it! Thank you for taking us to the market - love the pineapple.

You brought such cheer to these hardworking sellers. Love you for that!

~ NRIGirl

Come At Me Bro said...

This is sweet!

Catherine said...

What beautiful photos of your Marketplace! I can almost smell all the goodness of the ginger, garlic and vegetables! Wonderful!

Lowell said...

A great series...and while we have similar markets, we have some different types of fruits and veggies. Love the open air markets, though. You certainly captured the flavor of the event.

Thanks for your comment on Paree...I thought thy people in that picture were waiting for something to happen, but we didn't stick around so don't know what it might have been.

Bex said...

Wow! Those are beautiful shots! I especially love the reactions of the sellers to seeing their own prints. Priceless!

raji said...

wow ..nice shots and nice observation,these people are "superstars"in their own way.i like the picture of the guy with rings in all 5 fingers.gud way to fool him in taking a photograph:)

hamaarethoughts.com said...

market looks too good..lot of hustle n bustle..but where r you in these pictures?..
all ladies and smiles..makes me smile :)

Eryl said...

I have to visit India one day, it looks wonderful, great photographs.

Lemmiwinks said...

Kewl story, bra! waiting for updates from you

SY said...

lol wow who new that tomatoes cold look tasty

Cheryl Kohan said...

Fabulous photos! I like them all but that shot of the pineapples is my favorite, I think.

The Holy Lama said...

Thought I posted a comment earlier too. Nice shots and experience. Is the the first one from a personal collection? Can we see it bigger?

Always Happy said...

I love visiting market place too...good post

Juliana said...

Wow, I enjoyed so much going through the pictures...great great photos :-)

Trotter said...

Hi Haddock! Wonderful post! I love markets and yours is fabulous!!

Thanks for your comment at Blogtrotter Two, which has moved to a new country and actually to the most populated city in Africa. Enjoy and have a great weekend!

Unknown said...

Nice pics and narration, Joe Uncle!

Greener Bangalore said...

hi Sir! Thanks for the visit and comments......But Sorry that i deleted the old post (and so the comments got deleted automatically) There was some image issue and it was not displaying and hence i reposted

Bikram said...

beautiful pics.. yeha i can trust you going for shoppoign with a camera and before the people put th stuff in the bags for you .. you saying hold on let me take a click he heheehehe :)

I am admiring the vegetables so GREEEN wowow oh man i wish we had such fresh food here it would be so yummy to coook ....



Bikram's Question time

Mara said...

I really enjoyed reading this post and looking at your pictures. Thank you for sharing your day at the market. Namasté ! x

kiran sawhney said...

Very interesting post. I think everyone will be able to relate to this one and have their own experiences in their mind while reading it.

Lydia Kang said...

Wow, these pictures really transported me. I wish I'd been there, but the next best thing is experiencing them through your blog post.
Thanks for coming by my blog. I'm a new follower here now!

Unknown said...

The market seems like an interesting place to visit. I loved looking at all of your photos. It touched my heart.

Love Nana

My Unfinished Life said...

open market or haat (as its called in hindi)is a real amazing plc to be...even after shopping from high end shopping stores and malls, i find the most satisfying shopping(especially for veggies, spices and fruits)from such ope markets...
truly appreciate the efforts you tuk to click the pics and also take prints and show them to your subjects!!...commendable job!!

Fickle Cattle said...

Those fruits and vegetables look gorgeous. I especially adore the ginger and garlic stall photo.

ficklecattle.blogspot.com

Louise said...

yuuum that food looks amazing!!! Now following you xx

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Samyukta Ganesh said...

superb write up

Gloria Baker said...

What lovely market! I love the pictures, the food the colours, nice post! gloria

Anja said...

Great photos, what a nice tour of the market!

Namitha said...

Lovely pics...how I miss the markets in Hyderabad

Gopikaa Ramanan said...

You have got an amazing sense of photography! Nice to see the pictures that had captured that marketwallah's heart-felt thanks!

Know what, when I got my first digi-cam, I clicked an old village woman asking her to pose with a Reebok glasses and a hi-fi mobile phone. I had wanted it, to post for the Photography Competition that took place in my office. The next day that old village lady knocked my door with her son, daughter-in-law and her grand-son saying, "the moment you flashed on me, my eyes started itching. And now my eyes are aching severely. Give me 1000 rupees now, i hav to go to the doctor".

Then on...I never clicked anything except my family only!!!

RamNarayanS said...

Fresh from the market, rich pictures, and short narrations to go with it. LOL at the 'Lord of the Rings' tag. Smiling ...

Indrani said...

Do let us know Lord of Rings' reaction. :)
Very interesting read.

Nita Rane said...

I loved the simple narration alongwith the pictures, good work Joe, keep up with the stories.

MizzJ said...

Hehe too bad there's no such thing as smell-o-vision so we could smell all those fresh spices and produce! Markets are always interesting, lively places to people watch. Great photos!

Thanks for visiting my blog too :)

sangeeta said...

Amazing pictures and amazing stories behind them... Loved the market place , it's a foodies' heaven.

Unknown said...

I enjoyed your marketplace stories. Like you I love to walk and see the lively world around us. Great pictures too. Thanks for coming by my blog.

Angela said...

love visiting local markets whenever i visit a new place. : )

Sapna Anu B.George said...

Great pictures Joe and superb detailing and your own self picture too.................tell me how do you manage to bring in so much people to read you, i never get anyone , or less then 10 , wish i could bring in more people to read my 7 blogs

Haddock said...

@ Sapna
Tips on getting more people to read your posts:
a) Create only one Blog (max 2)
b) Write nice and quality stuff (with some humour thrown in)
c) Visit other's blogs and leave comment if you feel its a good one.
@ Savy Girl
Me to
@Keats The sunshine girl
Thanks Sunshine girl
@ Sangeeta
Thanks Sangeeta
@ Mizz J
I too have wondered about this smell-o-vision many times. Who knows one day it will be a reality
@ Nita
OK I will keep up the writing and you keep reading :-)
@ Indrani
Oh yes one day I will confront the Lord of the Rings with my prints and who knows......I may even live to write the experience.
@ RamMum
Yes I too am fascinated by the Lord of the Rings
@ Gopika Ramanan
Oh no, that was an unfortunate incident. Thank God the matter was settled for 1000
@ Gulmohur
Oh yes all the markets in India are interesting
@ Anja
Thanks
@ Gloria
Thanks