The way of life in Asia’s largest spice market – Khari Baoli
Khari Baoli, Asia’s largest spice market is located on the western end of Chandni Chowk, close to the Red Fort and adjacent to Fatehpuri Masjid. At the forefront, you might think of it as another congested market, but once you enter, you will be held in thrall over the way everyday traders go about there business here. Do not forget to cover your nose and mouth with a stole or a handkerchief because the air is so thick with the aroma of spices that it can throw you in a sneezing fit.
Khari Baoli is majorly a spice market where wholesalers sell all sorts of spices – red chilli, black chilli, turmeric and plenty of others. Besides this, there are shops designated to sell tea leaves, dry fruits like almonds, cashews, walnuts and ingredients to make sweets, like khoya, too.
Talking about the history of Khari Baoli, foundations of this place were laid by Khwaja Abdullah Laazar Qureshi during the reign of son of Sher Shah Suri. The Khari Baoli market came up around the Fatehpuri Masjid, which was built in 1650 by Fatehpuri Begum, one of Shah Jahan’s wives. It came to be known as Khari Baoli where Khari stands for salty and Baoli step-well.
In the 1930s, a large number of families migrated from Punjab to Delhi due to severe losses in businesses. They settled in different areas of Delhi and many of them started their shops in Khari Baoli and nearby markets.
“Mine is the fourth generation in the family at this shop. This is where we have been earning our daily bread and this is how we have prospered over the years,” says a shopkeeper selling turmeric among other spices.
A lot of the other shops are as old as 17th or 18th century with the 9th or 10th generation in the family running the business. Due to this, there is a deep emotional attachment that the shopkeepers have formed with the shops and their business.
“My grandparents, great grandparents and even more generations have worked here all their life. Our son wanted to explore other career opportunities; he tried his hand at a job but finally came and joined us in our family business. We are glad that our age old business will be taken forward by our son,” says a middle-aged dry fruit seller who has his shop in Khari Baoli since decades.
Every morning, amidst the narrow lanes and crowded streets, you will see dedicated shopkeepers neatly arranging their stock in sacks and getting ready for their daily business. Early in the morning, the streets of Khari Baoli come to life and at once fall into a busy commotion. The shopkeepers start setting up their shops; the customers start coming in with their orders and the honks and noises from the main roads makes it a chirpy place. The daily business of the shopkeepers runs in good sum of rupees and most of the sellers do wholesale selling whereas some do cater to small amount of selling too. They sell their spices or dry fruit in measures of what they call as ‘kattaa’- an often heard term in the premises, “Bhaiya, ek kattaa badaam dena.”
People from all over the country including big businesses come to this market to shop for spices. North and West Indian traders from the states of Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan are frequent visitors and make weekly visits to buy their stocks which they sell in their local markets.
Products are bought from here and exported to neighbouring countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh etc. Not only this, local women come here for monthly shopping and buy all that is needed to stock up their kitchen. They find here not only the best quality but amazing prices too.
The market is like a maze. You will enter into a lane and find so many lanes connecting to it in the inside area of the market. You will be awed at the structure of this whole place and how well it has been maintained.
By Ipsa Arora, Buzz Bureau
