Come Sunday mornings and most areas in the city wear a deserted look, but the eastern bank of the Sabarmati erupts with activity. The weekly market or the 'Ravivari' as it is locally known is conducted below the oldest bridge of Ahmedabad. This market is an interesting example of spontaneous shopping activity conducted in the city.
This market basically caters to the labour class and the millworkers. This could be the reason why the market is held only on Sundays.
The sunday market does not have any permanent structures or shops. The hawkers usually display their wares on charpoys or on the ground. One comes across a wide range of things being sold here. Used clothes, brassware, cycle spares, tools, wooden shelves and other similar items, books and magazines, cheap cassettes, household items and even caged birds! All this lends a very intriguing ambience to the market. Artists, found sketching and buying odds and ends for their sculptures are another unique feature. The vibrant nature of the market is a delight for a photography enthusiast. People from all walks of life find something of value in this market.
Within this milieu of screaming hawkers and bargaining customers, one cannot but wander how such a market is organized week after week with such clockwork precision. This informal market has been known to exist for over five decades. There appears to be a union where money is collected every week from each hawker towards rent. I saw a man collecting money from all the hawkers and systematically evicting the defaulters from the market. Indeed, the so-called unorganised sector comes up sometimes with effective and efficient solutions to problems which planners and municipal corporations have struggled to resolve!
Shopping has remained one of the most interesting, of all human activities. Wherever and whenever this activity becomes a mode of expressing people's emotions, it strikes a chord in one's heart. Every class of people in a city find their own outlets for expressing joy. The Sunday market or the Ravivari is just that - an expression of the people.
This article was published in the Indian Architect and Builder in 1994
This market basically caters to the labour class and the millworkers. This could be the reason why the market is held only on Sundays.
The sunday market does not have any permanent structures or shops. The hawkers usually display their wares on charpoys or on the ground. One comes across a wide range of things being sold here. Used clothes, brassware, cycle spares, tools, wooden shelves and other similar items, books and magazines, cheap cassettes, household items and even caged birds! All this lends a very intriguing ambience to the market. Artists, found sketching and buying odds and ends for their sculptures are another unique feature. The vibrant nature of the market is a delight for a photography enthusiast. People from all walks of life find something of value in this market.
Shopping has remained one of the most interesting, of all human activities. Wherever and whenever this activity becomes a mode of expressing people's emotions, it strikes a chord in one's heart. Every class of people in a city find their own outlets for expressing joy. The Sunday market or the Ravivari is just that - an expression of the people.
This article was published in the Indian Architect and Builder in 1994
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