This blue roof has been around for nearly two decades and underneath lies a labyrinth of bamboo and wooden stalls offering everything from clothes, DVDs, cosmetics and electronics to toys, shoes and even utensils.[break]
Winter jackets hang on in Ganga Pandey´s clothing shop right at the entrance behind the Nepal Tourism Board, one of the four gateways of the bazaar. Pandey´s shop is a year older than her 17-year-old son Prabit. "We´re the only ones who´ve been here since the beginning," she claims.
What´s amusing is Pandey doesn´t know fellow stall owner Akshay Kumar Verma who has also had his sari shop since Bhrikuti Mandap Khulla Bazaar´s formal establishment in December 17, 1992.
Popularly known as Hong Kong Bazaar, Khulla Bazaar covers 32 ropanis of land and boasts 1,351 stalls that hold 800 shops. The bazaar is divided into seven areas with each having 150 to 250 shops.
Verma´s shop is in Area 5 while Pandey´s is in Area 1. They are just two of nearly 200 vendors, who have been there since the start.
"We only know the people in our own area," says Rita Baral, whose bag store is opposite to Verma´s. Baral, however, has been here only for a year. "Business is okay. It definitely isn´t like 10 years back though."
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Khulla Bazaar was initially located at the Khulla Manch in 1991, but took root at the current location the following year after Social Welfare Council leased out the land.
"All shopkeepers have to register under Kathmandu Nimna Byapari Sangh (Kathmandu Small Business Association)," informs Vice-chairperson of Khulla Bazaar, Chinta Mani Prasai who owns a cosmetic store in Area 1. Chairperson Laxmi Oli, likewise, has a shoe store. The executive committee of the bazaar changes every two years. "The rent is Rs 13 per square foot."
(Photo:Bijay Gajmer)
Collectively, the bazaar pays a rent of Rs 7,50,000 per month to SWC. "Malls charge a minimum rent of Rs 30,000 per store on an average. Since our rent is cheaper we are able to offer goods at lower rates and there´s always bargaining, of course."
For his jeans and t-shirt shop in Area 6, Shiva Bhakta´s monthly cost comes to around Rs 1,200 that includes charges for electricity, porter, storage fees and rent. A pair of jeans, which would cost around Rs 700 at Suraj Arcade or China Town, can be bought for Rs 400 at his shop. "There is no difference in quality of jeans available here from that in shops in the malls," stresses Bhakta.
While Bhakta, a vendor since four years, is from Dhanusha, Pandey hails from Dhading. According to Prasai, who is from Jhapa, shopkeepers come from almost all districts of Nepal, and 10 percent of them are Indians, Verma being one of them.
Verma, who migrated from India´s Uttar Pradesh some 20 years back, has around 700 saris in his shop, neatly folded and stacked in columns. Like everyone, he has to put all the saris back into the shelves every evening only to lay them out again come morning. The vendors spend at least an hour each day to set the stalls and pack up -- a routine that has become a part of their lives.
Thus the bazaar, with the facility of four storage spaces, is busy by 6am and stays open till 8pm.
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Up from the Ferris wheel of the nearby Amusement Park, Khulla Bazaar looks like an unbroken row of makeshift tents. A close look reveals how old tires, stones, bricks, bamboo poles, anything and everything, are used to bolster the plastic roof of the stalls to endure the rains and sun shines all year round. The bazaar hardly looks appealing.
On the contrary, things are but organized. Unlike a crazy looking flea market that it used to be, the bazaar has implemented several rules in the past four years to ensure a visitor has a pleasant shopping experience. Not only are the items on sale neatly and efficiently organized, vendors consciously refrain from obstructing the walkways.
"Once a customer walks past my stall, I can´t call out on him or her," says Verma. "We have recently installed a sound system with at least one speaker in one area. If someone has left his or her mobile or bag, a vendor has to report it immediately. The announcement is made quickly after that."
The bazaar opens seven days a week but an individual stall owner is under no obligation to keep his/her stall open on any given day. Khulla Bazaar remains closed on the 25th of every Nepali month (except during Dashain and Tihar festivals) for maintenance. Since it is on the exhibition grounds, there is continuous power supply even during load shedding. They pay Rs 13 per unit for electricity.
The bazaar has its own Khulla Bazaar Saving & Credit Co-operative Ltd. with 365 shareholders. The cooperative has already provided loans to around 200 needy vendors.
"A vendor is not allowed to rent his or her stall to others," Prasai points out. "If a vendor doesn´t show up or pay rent for up to three months, the spot is given away to somebody else."
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With huge malls coming up at every corner, Khulla Bazaar barely has customers on a weekday afternoon. But that is not the only problem. Those who can´t afford to buy at Khulla Bazaar, go to the streets of Sundhara.
"Right now we are concentrating all our efforts to make the bazaar internally sound," states the Vice-chairperson. "Since we can´t afford advertisements on radios and televisions, some of us are faring just fine while others are somehow getting by."
"We are, however, positive that things will get better in the future," Prasai hopes.
The Khulla Bazaar has requested SWC many times to help them build a semi-permanent structure for floors and roofs to no avail.
Until then, the bazaar´s blue plastic roof will keep glowing in patches as the sun moves in and out of the clouds.
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