Journalism of Courage
Cows stroll about freely on the main roads as both pedestrians and irate vehicles owners try to wheeze their way past numerous such obstacles. Lined on both sides are stores,some ancient,some old and some relatively new-but each bearing its own story of evolution. Welcome to world of the commons-simply known as Khadki Bazaar.
Various sources have disputed the truth about its origins but on an average mean scale one can fairly say that the place is at least close to 85 years old. Abdul Samad,owner of the Crown Hotel and Lodge,one of the oldest hotels in the bazaar,says,”This hotel was built for the British officers who used to stay at the erstwhile Kirkee Cantonment in the year 1934. Today the hotel offers the option of lodging and boarding in addition to serving as a café.”
Moving on with time the façade of the bazaar sports a fancy new look with the New Khadki Business Centre and a new building coming up in place of the old Excelsior Theatre. Speaking about his shopping escapades,Ranjit Kamble says,”As a young kid a trip to Khadki Bazaar meant a day full of relaxation combined with entertainment. Even though I have spent a good deal of my time roaming the streets of the old bazaar,I prefer the new business centre for shopping because it is very clean and also because it has products that we get at Camp or JM road. I can’t say the same for my father though.”
The winding lanes of the bazaar takes one to the well known ‘Sharaf Bazaar’ where an array of jewellery shops line up on both sides of the streets. Ramesh Parekh one of the oldest jewelers of the area says,”Khadki bazaar is the place where the poorest of the poor or the commonest of the common come to buy gold. Infact not many people know this but the gold bazaar here is called the poor man’s gold bazaar,for the simple reason that people come in with 200 rupees to buy gold jewellery.”
Taking a round of the old bazaar,one cannot help miss the iconic Kirkee Sores,one of the first stores that sold everything right from groceries and toys to clothes.LS Vide who runs the store now says,” One of the most marked features of the bazaar is the fact that it is people only of the nearby families that stay around the cantonment and those of the employees at AFK (Ammunition Factory Khadki) come here to shop because even though prices the world over have increased,here in Khadki Bazaar time moves slowly and so do prices!”
The market offers
* gold and silver jewelries
* vegetables
* everyday household itmes
* wood works
* pocket friendly eateries
