Sunday flea market a haunt of book lovers too
Sajid Ali
Srinagar, February 7
Every Sunday, Ali Mohammad (38), of the Eidgah area of Old City, wakes up at 7 am and starts loading book stacks on to a load carrier. It takes him 15 minutes to reach Polo View, where he has a fixed place to sell second hand books at the city’s largest flea market, known as the Sunday Market.
“I have been selling second hand books for the past 15 years and this is the main stay of my family,” he said.
The Sunday Market is stretched over more than three km, from TRC Ground to Hari Singh High Street. It is famous for quick shopping of used merchandise and is the largest flea market in the Valley. The items on sale include home accessories, crockery, cutlery, clothes and shoes.
At Ali Mohammad’s stall, diverse genres of books, such as fiction, non-fiction, academics, gardening, memoirs and cooking, are on sale.
He sells books at Rs 50 a copy, sometimes even less; a reason that his stall is thronged by book lovers. His kiosk is commonly traced by a yellow board of the ground, next to which Ali Mohammad sets up the stall of books.
“I always come here and get my favorite books at very less price. I managed to get books of Leo Tolstoy, Paulo Coelho, Jack London and many other favourite writers,” said Imtiyaz Ahamad, a regular customer at the book stall.
Fayaz Ahmad, a teacher, said he waits the whole week to buy books from Ali Mohammad’s stall at easy rates.
The Sunday Market is the main stay of more than 1,300 people in the city from the past many years. Here, people of every age group can be seen selling different merchandise.
Habibullah Malik (72) has been selling handbags for six years and earns between Rs 200 to 300 on a good business day.
