Chatagaon Market

This past Wednesday, July 28th, Vimal tai invited us to join her on her weekly trip to the market. Chatagaon Market is setup in a woodsy area to the east of Shodhgram. It's about a ten minute drive away. Because it had rained very badly in the morning, the market was smaller than usual, but I still really enjoyed the field trip. It felt good to accompany Vimal tai on her errand to purchase fruits, vegetables, and ingredients for all the meals she cooks for us.

Chatagaon Market is essentially a farmer's market and not all that different from the ones I've been to back at home. Each farmer setups in a tent. Fruits, vegetables, and spices are the main goods being sold, but there are also a few "plastic and junk" stands selling cheap jewelery, plastic items such as combs, mirrors, and children's toys, and some basic home goods like soap dishes and shower caddies.

Here is a photo of people milling around the market once it became crowded. You cannot see in the photo, but all the way around the market in the trees stood armed policeman in camouflage. They are there to protect the market from Naxals in the area. It was my understanding that we were completely safe while at the market- otherwise SEARCH would not have let us go- but there was some sort of three-day political "bandh" going on at the time- certain businesses in town had to shut down for a few days and there was a curfew- don't ask. We were safe.

Here is a photo of a large vegetable stand. One thing that was different about this market compared to the ones I've been to in the States, is that the farmers sit on the ground amongst their fruits and vegetables. There are no fancy chairs or benches. Also, they use balance scales with mass weights, not the kind that you would see in a supermarket with a pointer. Each time someone wanted to buy something they put all the vegetables or fruits onto one side of the balance and played around with the weights on the other side of the balance to get an approximate idea of how much there was. Sometimes young kids were given this job.

Some women picking out tomatoes. One of the things I love about India is how colorful it is. The saris worn by the women seem to come in every color imaginable. When driving along the roads, now that the rains have come, there is always so much green- the grass, the trees, the rice paddies. But always, amongst all the green, you will see the colorful dots of villagers working the land.

Vimal tai picking out some sort of green vegetable.

There was one huge spice, garlic, onion, and herb tent. Here is one of the men selling his spices; I think chili powder and the ones used to make curry.

Another man selling us garlic.

Here I am before leaving the market. You can see my beautiful, new, green outfit. At the market, I bought a pair of cheap gold earrings with green beads for five rupees, roughly 12 cents.