Shopworn

Over the years,premium brands like Tommy Hilfiger,Swarovski,L’occitane and Lacoste have made a beeline to the market; and couture designers like Raghavendra Rathore,Gauri and Nainika,and Deepika Govind opened their closet-sized showrooms to cater to an eager-to-spend clientele — those with money,inherited or newly acquired,trust fund babies or overnight rags-to-riches characters — anyone who wants to be anyone in the city. But even as the enigma and inherent arrogance associated with the market rose to new heights of snobbery and luxurious extravagance,surrounding areas and infrastructure of the market sunk to an even greater low.

Despite being the 21st most expensive retail space in the world in 2010,leaving Dubai and Mumbai behind,Khan Market is missing its glitzy shine. Potholes and trashed corners with heaps of accumulating garbage,sewage water collecting in the depressions of the road and cobweb-infested electrical wires precariously hanging mid-air — the atmosphere has a stench of hypocrisy,since the allure of the market and ground reality don’t match. With rentals as high as Rs 13,000 per square foot,Khan Market shopkeepers shell out a whopping Rs 6.5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh monthly for a 500-700 sq ft area. Yet,none of this wealth translates into visible infrastructural changes.

President of FDCI,Sunil Sethi,who belongs to one of Delhi’s oldest families and has seen the market since his childhood days,says that “the snob value of the market comes from the level of the shop — which is quite high”. He adds that he does not take his car inside the market anymore. “I’d rather walk for two minutes than add to further confusion and congestion,” he says. He admits that Khan Market is his first preference to take foreign guests shopping.

On condition of anonymity,a store owner reveals her distress at the increasing filth in the Middle Lane: “The lane is full of eating joints! The area outside these places is so dirty,it could even be a fire hazard. I’ve complained several times that it invites rats and dogs,but they don’t seem to listen!” Dogs,of course,are also the bone of contention between several shopkeepers and pet lovers.

Close to 25 stray dogs in the market have been clothed,fed,vaccinated and taken care by Rita Devi of Windsor the Pet Shop for the last 20 years. Although a noble concept,stray dogs hardly support the image that goes along with a high-street market. The surrounding areas of the market — the electrical shops,Loknayak Bhavan and even the local theka — has a very contradictory customer base,and are rotting in even worse neglect. “Khan Market is not the only place that lacks proper structure,” adds Sethi. “It’s only because this is such a high-profile market,always in the news for the wrong reasons,that people criticise it so much.”

Khan Market is also a place for unusual sightings: this is the only place you would encounter a 40-plus mother of two wearing knee-high suede boots at noon,dangerously obese women talking about their “Cocoberry dahi” diet,and high-heeled maidens attempting to walk the unevenly paved roads.

In its cramped parking lot,one gets to see some of the biggest and swankiest cars of the Capital competing for inches of space. Even though the market has one of the few free parking lots in the city,attendants expect to be paid,and patrons generally oblige — some are actually thankful for their skilful manoeuvring advice,while others like to be seen tipping where none is required.

Whether it is due to a lack of incentive by the traders’ association or the civic body’s neglect,Khan Market desperately needs a facelift in order to look like the premium high street shopping destination it is.