Long lines of stalls with fresh vegetables and fruits displayed neatly, sellers luring buyers with their high pitched voices and people with bag loads of produce barely able to maintain their balance.
Many of us must have gone to these markets at least once if not regularly. But the question that arises in the mind of many is that: Are these weekly markets actually beneficial for the residents or just another headache for the nearby localities?
Many of us may say, when retailers and sellers deliver fresh vegetables at our doorstep with just one click the weekly markets are not relevant anymore. For starters the closely packed stalls and shoulder rubbing crowd is an invitation for infections especially in these post pandemic times. The dense crowd also attracts many anti-social elements and cases of eve teasing, inappropriate touching and mobile and purse thefts are very common. Moreover the haphazardly parked cars and scooters occupy most of the road and cause traffic snarls. Not to mention the filth and rotting heaps of vegetable waste that is left behind. The arguments that go against the markets are many but are they enough to make these markets a thing of the past.
Well many residents have a different opinion. They say that these markets are a lifeline for many residents especially the senior citizens who are not very tech savvy and many people who still prefer to hand select their vegetables and fruits after careful examination of each and the customary exchange of the dialogue ” Bhaiya theek theek laga lo”. They say that the produce is fresh and the prices are reasonable versus the online sellers that show us a mirage of fresh juicy vegetables in their advertisements and in reality deliver sad looking vegetables. For some, visiting these markets gives them a chance to see all different vegetables of the season; and they can choose accordingly. People also say that the variety of vegetables available at these markets is far more than what is available online.
To conclude, we can only say that different people have different outlook towards these markets but still the large number of visitors to these markets is proof of their relevance.
