Sights and Sounds at Okhla Vegetable Market - Part I

Location: Okhla Vegetable Market

Time: 04:10 a.m. to 5:30 a.m.

20 visuals that I liked:

1. Just outside the ‘Okhla Vegetable Market’ something interesting caught my eye. As it’s a wholesale market, a lot of trucks and tempos, had been parked outside. These created good frames, beside the pavement. One such was a green tempo parked in front of an orange truck, and the space in the middle that was left you could see a family sleeping on the dusty pavement.
2. Another visual that I found interesting while still outside was the array of vegetable carrying bicycles. I hadn't expected to spot these, and I have been to vegetable markets before, but obviously not one this big. These bicycles looked adorable; they had woven vegetable baskets tied to the front of the handle bars, and a really big one secured near the seat. Standing in lines, or even when pictured alone they made for a pretty sight.
3. As it was early morning when we visited the ‘Okhla Sabzi Mandi, some people could be found sleeping. But what amazed me how different their beds and sleeping positions were! For e.g. I saw a man sleeping on vegetable plastic baskets, stacked together to make a bed. And another basket which had been kept upside down right next to him had a goat sleeping on it.
4. As we went in further, I spotted a fruit seller, who had a huge tent with watermelons under them. And one could clearly see that he was having a good time as he was quickly selling them off, though it was still so early. It was a good day for him! But right next to his shop, two young men slept on a wooden hawker’s cart. This made the visual very interesting, while the watermelon vendor was sending off truckloads of melons away, among all this commotion and activity these two men just slept through it all.
5. On going further we saw to our right, a lot of Muslims offering their early morning namaz. Special seating arrangements had been made for the auspicious Ramzan season, to host a large number of people. From the market where I stood, you could look into the tent through a gap and see the namaz proceedings.
6. Then I saw a truck, which was being loaded with sacks full of potatoes and onions. There were two workers at the back of the truck, one with the light guiding the other one with the sack. They made a very homely picture.
7. As we approached the area from where the market properly began, I spotted another interesting truck. It had been parked on a slope and had a street light illuminating the back end of the truck. It had a man on the top who was pulling a cover on top of the truck. Because of the slope and the man pulling it in the direction of the slope with all his might, this sight symbolized for me strength and hard work at the vegetable market.
8. Men with weird backpacks caught my attention as we were walking in the main market now. From a distance I couldn't make out what it was. It took me a while to see that they were not really backpacks, but contraptions made by them to lift a bag full of vegetables and carry it easily till the truck. They were all white in color and made of the white plastic sacks that one sees at markets. It had a small wooden block tied on the end, to sport the box or the sack.
9. A very charming fruit shop was something that stood out in a ‘vegetable’ market. There were other fruits shops too, but this one just marked its presence, the vendor must have spent quite some time in setting it up. It had fruits arranged in such a way that it looked like a fort of fruits, the front was lower and the backside was higher. So one could just stand and scan all the fruits easily. The vacant chair in the middle and a weighing matching just added more to the charm. Also fruit baskets and trays hung on strings from the rooftop lining the shop.
10. On one end of the market we saw a corncob wholesaler. This was the biggest corncob shop I think. It was huge and had one man sitting at one corner peeling the excess leafs off them. And one man who helped him was standing next to him. The heaps of already peeled corncobs lay below, which was being managed by two other people who were helping to get them loaded on trucks standing nearby.
11. There was an attention-grabbing man selling potatoes at the market. Though dressed in a normal banyan, lungi and smoking a beedi, there was something remarkable about him which made him so unlike others. He also had a ‘change’ pouch hanging off a really long string on his neck. It looked like he was some character out of a book.
12. There was also a shop selling only packed Khajoor (dates). To go with the festive season of Ramzan and the upcoming Eid. Packed in clear transparent plastic bags and reflecting the light from the bulbs, the Khajoor looked really glossy and silken! Appetizing enough to compel anybody to buy them.
13. Near one of the tea stalls in the market, was a big weighing machine placed. And beside it was kept a charpoy. So the hardworking men could be seen lifting heavy sacks placing them on the weighing machine, then sealing them and taking them to the truck. Whereas on the charpoy right next to it, young men who are lazy bums (you could make out by there behavior) just kept lazing around. One even got scolded by his dad for not working. It showed the contrast very clearly.
14. Sometimes the ordinary looks so different, that it looks other worldly! I felt this when I couldn't recognize green bananas being sold at a shop, because of its placement. They had been placed one top of the other, with the top i.e. the place where they are connected to each other was facing us. So they looked like huge big green flowers, with every banana looking like a leaf to me. It felt like a scene from the evergreen African jungles. So green and so exotic!
15. Early morning and the smell of ‘Chai’ is sure to brighten anybody’s day. So we went and had tea at one of the tea stalls. It was much later that I noticed it reminded me of some place. I couldn't really say it aloud because I thought it sounded weird, but nevertheless I somehow said it. And to my relief Nagma agreed with me. The ‘Chai stall’ reminded one of being in a railway station! Its composition was such that it had a feel of being situated on a platform. For once I actually though that we were waiting for a train and not really in a vegetable market. We were surrounded by vegetables yet getting the feeling of being transported to another world altogether is no mean feat.
16. One of the vendors who was not making much sale, or maybe was unhappy about something sat on the weighing machine of his shop with a grumpy expression on his face.
17. The place where the sacks were being lifted on the backs of workers also had interesting sights. One that I liked was the way they lifted the sacks up. Another worker would help lift the bag, and then he would swing it in a peculiar way above his head, so that it landed on his back. It looked very smooth and there practice showed in the ease with which they were doing it.
18. Amongst the vegetables and fruits in the market, amongst the vibrant colors, a dairy shop is sure to stand out. Selling products like: milk, cheese, khoya, etc. – the shop looks very white! And stacked up on a silver shelf, it shines too. Very different from the rest of the market indeed.
19. At one of the exits/entrances, there was an interesting opening with a triangular top. Vegetable vendors sitting on both sides with light bulbs glowing in their shops, contrasted well with the black sky visible through the opening. The play of light and dark, made it eye catchy.
20. The shop that I liked the most was the one selling carrots and capsicums. It had two levels and an interesting background of colorful doors. On the floor lay the orange carrots, and up the stairs to the raised platform lay green capsicums. Workers could be seen cleaning the vegetables and packing them. Behind them was a dark green cupboard fixed into the wall, then a blue door and just next to it a bright green bigger door. Two sacks of carrots were kept on the left side of the platform. It was full, vibrant, rich and one of the best sights that I saw at the ‘Okhla Sabzi Mandi’.