India’s urban atmosphere is a mix of formal and informal settings, of crowds and traffic jams, of architectural marvels and historical monuments. However, one element that most of us neglect but are closely tied to is street vending. A large part of economic activity in many urban centres across India is owed to street vendors. They not only make commodities affordable for the public but also make them accessible. From flowers to vegetables and from electronics to clothes, street vendors run through the length and breadth of urban India.
Street vendors also contribute in a big way to changing the aesthetic appeal of cities. While conducting their businesses, they often occupy spaces that were initially meant for other purposes or simply leave the area dirty after they close shop. However, at the same time, street vendors also cater to a wide range of advantages to the city’s landscape. Apart from making daily-use commodities accessible, street vendors also help in making cities safer. In her book ‘The Death and Life of Great American Cities’, American-Canadian author and journalist Jane Jacobs said that diversifying land use can greatly help make women feel safer. This includes, but is not limited to, formally opening up our public spaces to street vendors.
In India, street vending can widely be divided into two types – Periodic temporary markets and Fixed Individual spots. This is based on how street vendors utilise public spaces for their businesses.
Periodic Markets
These markets are primarily set up on a daily or weekly basis. Vegetables, fruits, flowers, plastic products like combs and mugs, and cutlery are some of the things that are most commonly found in these markets. Markets like those that crop up in RK Puram in New Delhi on Fridays and Sunday, or like those that inhabit Arpora in North Goa on Friday nights, are often the lifeline of the area’s economy. In Arpora, for example, shopkeepers set up shop in an almost carnival-like environment. Not only do they sell products and make profits but also have a good time listening to live music performances or by going on rides. This not only makes the area a bustling hub of business but also a fun location for families living in the vicinity to come and enjoy. Not only this, the Arpora night market in Goa is a rather interesting tourist destination too. One can find traditional Goan-themed food and keychains, mugs and earrings, along with jackets
and electronics.
Ongus Mathews, the owner of a handicrafts shop in Arpora, said that the market helps his family eat three meals a day. “If it were not for this market, we would not have been able to sustain ourselves. Even during the lockdown, all the shopkeepers worked together to help each other,” he said. Adding that the market management committee is often applauded for its method of managing the space they occupy and the visitors, Ongus told us that we try out best not to trouble any of the residents nearby. “We realise that we must keep our neighbours happy. If we turn the market into a headache for those living nearby, then it is obvious that the market is not a good use of the land,” he remarked.
On the other hand, the Friday market in RK Puram is relatively typical compared to the one in Arpora. However, it does serve as a source of low priced and fresh vegetables, fruits and spices for the area’s residents. Not only this, but the market also serves as a one-stop-shop for all cutlery. Additionally, to ensure that the people visiting the markets do not have a hard time, the market is divided based on the types of products being sold.
This, in turn, makes shopping at the Friday market easy for the consumers. Along with the market, it is also common to find vendors serving
street food.
It is interesting to see how a public place transforms into a bustling market for one night every week and ends up serving the requirements of thousands of people.
Fixed Spots
The vendors who fall in this category sell products at one spot only. These spots are usually in front of other shops, at the roadside or near an office space. Street vendors in this category also sell a variety of things. However, due to their fixed place of business, their customer base is usually fixed. Additionally, they may or may not be a part of a management committee or a union. Since they conduct their business alone, they typically do not have other street vendors selling products next to them. Since they are not a part of any committee, they do not plan when and where they set up shop. For some street vendors who set up shop in market areas, the market management committee is responsible for the spot they can claim for selling their products. They also have to pay rent to the market management committee to continue their business. “Sometimes, the market committees raise the rents suddenly. This may mean that the rent may suddenly double. In such a case, it gets tough for us to cope. Many of my friends had to close their shops due to this,” said Ram Shankar, a shopkeeper in the Green Park market in South Delhi.
These shopkeepers add a different touch to the otherwise structured market areas. Apart from the high-end branded products sold by shopkeepers in markets like Green Park, the street food and phone covers sold by these street vendors enhance visitors’ shopping experience.
One of the problems here is that unlike periodic markets with a well-defined public space for them to conduct their business, these individual street vendors are often the cause of a disrupted walking path for visitors in market places. This creates a problem for them and dramatically increases the amount of time they spend navigating the market places, making them less interested in visiting the said market.
It is, therefore, important for market management committees to make sure they come up with possible solutions for accommodating an essential element of market places in urban India.
Newspaper vendors and their unique ways
One of the first people to get up in the morning, most newspaper vendors perform two jobs to make ends meet. However, their role in utilising public spaces is unique. What are roads for thousands of vehicles throughout the day are their places of business during the early hours of the day. Vinod Bhagvat, a newspaper vendor, sets up a shop to receive the bundle of newspapers at 05:00 AM. After distributing the newspapers to the subscribers, he runs back to his house only to return to the same spot to sell pakoras and jalebis. The exact location used as a point to rendezvous with newspaper distributors is used for the rest of the day to sell snacks. This diversity of uses to which a piece of land is subjected is a USP of urban India.
In many cases, activities like newspaper distribution also trigger other street vendors in the vicinity. To stay fresh, newspaper vendors look for different vendors selling tea. This, in turn, prompts other vendors selling snacks to set up shop. In turn, a small economic ecosystem emerges only for a few hours every morning and disappears for the rest of the day.