House Of Hues

They say, "If shopping doesn't make you happy, then you're in the wrong shop." Only a few are skilled enough to master the art of shopping. In India, shopping would mean finding the right store, bargaining with the shopkeeper, and finally bringing your precious items home with a hearty smile. But when you enter the world of Sarojini Nagar Market, none of these steps matter anymore. You will not be able to find the right store, you won't have to bargain, but you'll be pleased after getting your shopping bags.

Sarojini Nagar: A shopper’s paradise; Image Source: India TV News

Gertrude Stein, a famous American novelist from the nineteenth century, once said, "Whoever said money can't buy happiness simply didn't know where to go shopping." Well, he was right. Money can buy you Prada, Gucci, Fendi, Chanel, Versace, and whatnot. If these do not make you happy, believe me, you were on the wrong path this entire time. Suppose you have been to the streets of famous shopping destinations like London, Milan, Paris, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, Madrid, and Rome.

In that case, you must be aware of the brilliant shopping experience that they provide to their customers. But being an Indian, you would never want to leave the lanes of the famous Sarojini Nagar Market in New Delhi that awaits your gracious presence. You can see it gleaming with life if you enter the bazaar at six in the evening. Sarojini Nagar Market is a paradise on earth for every shopping enthusiast, from fashion influencers to married women, from office to college-going hustlers to college-going girls.

On the side streets, one can see the expert mehendiwallahs, already with their mehendi paste, as women come rushing around to get their hands donned with intricate henna designs. The tiny light shops are filled with Chinese lights and diyas for lighting up your homes during Diwali. In a separate corner, the famous chaat and aloo tikki wallahs wait to break your monotonous diet routines. It is hard to imagine that now there isn't even a single inch of space to stand, but around seventeen years ago, this fun and frolic market was submerged in darkness after a bomb blast destroyed its beautiful hues and vibrant shops.

One can hear the lucrative voices of sellers calling out to you by saying- "100 rupaye, 100 rupaye, har ek maal yahan 100 rupaye,", "Madam, yahan jeans sirf 300 ka milta hai! Isse sasta kahin nahi!,", "Aapka dhyaan kidhar hai? Saste kapde toh idhar hain,", "Madam, yeh A1 mojri aur chappal sirf 100 ke milenge yahan." Their voices echo throughout the Sarojini Market, luring you into buying the stuff that you don't even want.

The background noises are filled with chatters of young and older people, students and professionals, not-so-rich ones to pretty rich ones. This says that Sarojini Nagar is the one-stop destination for everyone. Behind all these chaotic voices, we never try to look out for the voices of those cramped stitching machines that sit somewhere in the aloofness. We are out to fill our wardrobes to the brim, but we never ask the shopkeepers the reason behind selling trendy clothes at such dirt-cheap prices.

Nowadays, with soaring prices of clothes and environmental concerns, the consumer market is slowly and steadily moving towards thrift stores. Though this concept is pretty popular in western countries, in India, Sarojini Nagar is the Indianized version of thrift shopping. Sarojini Nagar never sleeps, with infinite businesses or vendors carrying their items along in an attempt to advertise and sell to consumers as they wander around.

Sarojini Nagar: When your favorite clothes are available at dirt-cheap prices; Image Source: Nav Bharat Times

The best part about this market is its affordable price and massive diversity of clothing items. Most of the trendy styles are similar to those introduced by famous brands like H&M, FabIndia, and Zara. Sarojini Nagar gathers a diversified and massive clientele, resulting in enough profit for each seller despite the endless bargaining.

Now here's the catch. People are always bewildered about how people can sell such amazing stuff this cheaply. The mechanism of dirt-cheap prices is simple. Now whatever we buy from the Sarojini Nagar Market or wholesale bazaars is often the export surplus. In simple words, global fashion companies like H&M and Zara give out contracts to local tailors who always make three or four percent more of what is required.

Well, they are pretty clever. What happens here is that many of the final pieces are rejected when the quality inspection is done due to a mismatch in color or stitching style, and these rejected pieces go to the vendors of Sarojini Market. The shopkeepers buy these products in bulk, but at much lower prices, and sell them off to us. Each sale brings them 20% profit on average.

Sarojini Nagar provides fashion on a budget, a paradise for every shopping enthusiast. Sometimes, the local markets in India even beat other thrift stores like the ones on Instagram or fashionable offline outlets. The price at which clothes are available at Sarojini market is much lower than any thrift store worldwide. SNM holds the topmost position in the hierarchy of thrifting culture. It is also essential to recognize that "thrifting" comes from privileged jargon and has meaning primarily in the realm of the wealthy. But little do we know that in India, markets like Sarojini Nagar have been involved in the business of thrift stores for decades now.

Now let's get into the background of Sarojini Nagar a bit. Before the name Sarojini Nagar came into being, people called this shopping paradise Vinay Nagar. After a few decades, Vinay Nagar was renamed after the famous freedom fighter Sarojini Naidu as Sarojini Nagar Market. When the market was set up, it was divided into four sections: Babu Market, Subzi Market, Central Market, and Mandir Wali Side. Located in the South West area of Delhi, this market holds a lot of stories.

Aside from a significant number of big-sized showrooms for numerous worldwide and local labels, the market is dominated by street-side stores selling clothing of all sizes, patterns, and colors. On weekends, it becomes pretty packed. Until the 2000s, SNM was home to several shops run by huge clans. Even today, many families call it their haven.

The hustle-bustle of Sarojini Nagar Market; Image Source: Business Today

The Babu Market consists of four rows of shops that sell garments. Apart from the cloth shops, this area also houses many famous sweet shops like Mucchal Halwayi Ki Dukaan and Mahindra Sweets, along with steel shops from where people shop for Dhanteras. The Subzi Market houses the best fruits and vegetables from all over the country.

Not only healthy foods but fast food shops like chaat, aloo tikki, and noodles and dessert shops like kulfi and ice cream also lure the customers. The Central Market is mainly filled with leather shops that sell shoes, belts, purses, and jackets. The large ancient arches have the words "SAROJINI NAGAR" printed. Some of the letters on this signpost were missing, and these characters may not even be present today.

The Sarojini Nagar Market poses a lot of popularity in the consumer market. The countless options available at such affordable prices lure consumers into buying more and more. This contributes to the contemporary fashion culture's condition of heightened consumption. The more the number of clothes we buy, the more the number of clothes we dispose of. This adds to the increasing environmental concerns.

The operation of these marketplaces then creates difficulty with economic, social, and ecological implications. This eventually forces us to choose between two options- opt for fashion or opt for the environment. But at the same time, we cannot ignore the fact that if Sarojini Nagar Market ever shuts down, a billion-dollar industry would submerge under water.

People who cannot afford expensive clothes would need somewhere to go. The expansion of such businesses contributes to environmental misery and drives consumption to feed the capitalist fantasy. While we must examine how fashion is not exempt from modern socioeconomic and ecological challenges, visiting Sarojini is also an unforgettable experience.