Night Bazaar Turns Sleepy
HYDERABAD: There is most always some handicrafts and handloom exhibition going on in the city and yet there never seems to be a dearth of people milling around these stalls. After all, we love a good bargain.
Which is what makes the Shilparamam Night Bazaar a very interesting concept. Given its location in the IT sector, the night bazaar caters to shoppers who can’t find time during the day but have more than enough time on their hands at night. With stalls stacking clothes, jewellery, food, accessories and more, besides a few amusement rides, the bazaar sounds like the perfect picnic spot for night revelers. Quite popular when started in 2011, the years though haven’t been too kind to it.
A trip there during this week revealed very few people present at the premises, and even fewer actually interested in the wares on sale at stalls. Though it’s USP was being open from 1 pm to 1 am, catering to most everyone’s timings, the night bazaar doesn’t stay open too long during the week; if you’re lucky, you’ll catch it open till about 11 pm.
At present, a food festival that concludes today, seems to have attracted some footfall; however, people have been making a beeline for the food and barely spending any time at the bazaar. The food stalls as well do not offer much variety. Biryani is the highest grosser, with delicacies like Andhra fish fry and pav bhaji following it up.
Popularly known as ‘Shilpa Sandhya Vedika’, Shilparamam is a one-of-its-kind tourism project in the city. The bazaar was designed to promote Indian handicrafts and handloom products. But artisans say there is nothing much to attract customers and that weekdays are always quite slow.
Mohan Gandham who runs a temporary saree stall at the night bazaar says, “I had set up my stall at the bazaar hoping that there would be a huge crowd but in vain. Although the stall has been provided to me free of cost by the government, it is not generating income on a daily basis.”
Artisans who travel from other districts feel the pinch harder as they struggle in the city as well. Gandham who hails from Khammam, laments about the plight of fellow artisans who come all the way from other states like Lucknow to set up stalls at the Night Bazaar.
Barely managing to earn `800 a day, artisans remain disheartened while the management remains optimistic towards reviving the once popular attraction in the city.
The scene on weekends though is completely opposite, quite naturally, but stall owners agree that sales have come down considerably.
For customers, finding a place that remains open late into the night is the biggest draw. Satrupa Sengupta, a regular at the night bazaar for the past six months, says, “I like the bazaar because it is the only place in the city which remains open quite late. The ambience also holds back customers. Overall, it is a nice place for shopping.”
A few though seem to be a little dismayed by the general lack of enthusiasm at the bazaar.
A first-time visitor, Keerthi Kiran, says, “I had heard a lot about the night bazaar and was expecting it to be like midnight bazaar at Charminar. But all my hopes vanished after coming to this place. There are hardly any stalls for shopping purpose. The place is almost like a picnic spot where kids can enjoy amusement rides.”
While the shopping front remains debatable, cultural activities have also been organised at the venue to keep non-shopaholics entertained as well as amusement rides for the kiddies.
Nethra Devang, public relations
officer for Andhra Pradesh Tourism and Culture Department, says, “The night bazaar attracts people mostly during weekends. To cater to the demand, we came up with the idea of organising cultural events on a daily basis. However, it has not been able to grab the attention of the customers.” She admits that a lot more needs to be done in this area.
In this regard, V Madhusudan, special officer in-charge of Shilparamam says, “The night bazaar has been able to attract customers at a fair rate. Although, the bazaar seldom operates till 1 am, the cultural programmes go on regularly till 10:30 pm. The management has decided to revive the the bazaar and the food festival is the first step in that direction.”
The cultural nights at the bazaar start at 7:30 pm and go on till about 9 pm. The night bazaar though closes by around 10:30 pm during the week, or a little later, depending on the crowd. On weekends it may remain open till the scheduled 1 am.
Entry at the bazaar has been kept free to not deter customers. However, there seems to be a confusion over the issue as a regular entry to Shilparamam is charged while a separate entrance to the bazaar is not chargeable.
Some customers have paid an entrance to the bazaar unaware of the ‘free-entry’ concept but the management asserts that one needn’t. To raise an awareness about the bazaar and help revive it, the management has set up new boards across the city. But whether this will provide the much needed adrenaline shot remains to be seen.