A day in the life of a tribal village market (Haat)...!
http://www.developmentoutlook.org/2013/02/a-day-in-life-of-tribal-village-market.html
I am quite sure most of you have seen or know of a
village haat or bazaar. Ever wonder what exactly happens out there?
(In case if
you are not aware of what a village haat is- as most interior villages of rural India do
not have proper linkage to the market, many Indian villages - especially the
ones that are well connected with small cities- host a business center, which
is open only once a week in Government owned lands)
Needless to say, bangles are extremely important for Indian women. One interesting observation was that women buyers did not wear bangles themselves, but the sellers helped them wear the bangles. Interestingly, once the new bangles were put on a woman’s hand, the seller broke the old bangles.
This particular village haat was also a place for me to understand the tribal enterprises. I learnt that most of the tribal women gather in the market to trade their products and purchase their food supplies for the week. On an average, they pay around Rs 30 per person for transportation. You can see two tribal women paying the vehicle’s owner (pics below) and their items that they have brought to sell.
And lots of cash transactions…..!
And last but not the least, the presence of a village sethani “landlord’s wife” really made a difference.
This particular
haat is hosted in one of the developed villages of Bastar district of
Chattisgarh, which is around 30 km away from a small town- Jagdalpur. Localities mentioned
that 1000s of visitors from around
40-50 interior villages within a radius of 40 km visit this haat every week to
purchase or sell all types of goods ranging from daily needs items such as
vegetables, salt, sugar, spices, rice to clothes, jewelry, toys etc.
Do you know that each place is allotted to a
particular enterprise? A local boy told
me to bring a stick and place it on any empty space, and that space would be
mine. This man in the picture below (on the right) mentioned that
the place was allotted to his family 40 years ago, when his father first
occupied that place. He has a clothing business and comes from a city, which is
around 30 km away from the place.
Needless to say, bangles are extremely important for Indian women. One interesting observation was that women buyers did not wear bangles themselves, but the sellers helped them wear the bangles. Interestingly, once the new bangles were put on a woman’s hand, the seller broke the old bangles.
This particular village haat was also a place for me to understand the tribal enterprises. I learnt that most of the tribal women gather in the market to trade their products and purchase their food supplies for the week. On an average, they pay around Rs 30 per person for transportation. You can see two tribal women paying the vehicle’s owner (pics below) and their items that they have brought to sell.
And check out the following pictures to
understand what tribal women generally bring to sell in such haats ranging from
food products, vegetables, home-made alcohol to ornaments made by the tribal.
And lots of cash transactions…..!
And last but not the least, the presence of a village sethani “landlord’s wife” really made a difference.
In my
opinion, a visit to any haat bazaar of any village gives the glimpse of the
social and commercial lifestyle of the people living in that community. So next time, if you see a village haat or
bazaar, try to spend some time just observing. It is quite an experience.
that's amazing... I think this is a huge market to capture... and these tribal women are so hard working and their products unique but not yet marketed well. I think these women get a good chance to release their products in the market.
ReplyDeleteI loved the way of capturing their position in the market by just putting a stick.
Hey, How are going on?
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Thanks for the great post.
good one in visuals !!
ReplyDeleteNice post.other products & services are also rendered like I witnessed .
ReplyDeleteEligible male bachelors with parents visit the 'haat" searching for brides. One can identify the male by a particular kind of "dhoti" they put on which has an unique design pattern woven on rear part of the cloth.these clothes are not sold to already married males.the place is in kandhamal district in Orissa.